


Like a Mystery Without A Clue

by OnceUponaSwanQueen



Series: All About Your Heart [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - No Curse, Emma and Mary Margaret as sisters, F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-17
Updated: 2015-09-01
Packaged: 2017-12-20 11:55:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 51,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/886976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnceUponaSwanQueen/pseuds/OnceUponaSwanQueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emma Swan knew two things for sure, one) she was head over heels in love with Regina Mills, and two) that Regina Mills was probably totally completely straight, right? </p><p>First in a trilogy about Emma and Regina in high school, where Regina is student body present and Emma is well.. Emma.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> First of all, A HUGE THANKS, to my beta aurorstorm/leaving-storybrooke for turning my mess into something actually readable, I am forever grateful.
> 
> Second, I have been working on this fic since September, on and off (mostly off unfortunately), but decided to start posting it now. It's the first in a trilogy (if everything goes as planned)
> 
> Third, fic name is from the Mindy Gledhills song "All about your heart", that inspired the entire trilogy.

Mary Margaret was twelve years old when her father first brought Emma home. Her father worked as a social worker and he had fallen head over heels in love with the ten year old little girl who already had seen more pain than she should have in a lifetime.

She was thirteen when Emma was formally adopted, and Emma officially became her little sister. That hadn’t mattered to Mary Margaret though. She had loved the little girl from the moment she saw her. She was so small and fragile, and she needed a big sister. So Mary Margaret had been there every step of the way.

On her first day at her new school, she had walked Emma to class, and made sure that she knew she was safe and that she was just on the other side of the school if something happened. The first time Emma had come home crying, Mary Margaret had beaten up the guy who teased her. She was overly protective and she knew that, but she also knew that nothing should ever happen to her sister. And everyone should know that if you messed with Emma Swan-Blanchard, her sister would come after you.

When Emma was eleven she broke her leg, and Mary Margaret stayed with her through everything, never letting go of her hand. She never left her side, not even after they had put the cast on. That was the day Mary Margaret promised herself that she would always look after her little sister and no matter what happened she would always stand by her side.

Mary Margaret loved her sister more than anything on this planet, so when Emma knocked on her door late one night, about a month after she had turned 16; Mary Margaret was ready to cut a bitch for whatever had happened to her.

“Come in, Em. “ Mary Margaret said as she heard the knock on her door, and the blonde girl stepped into the room.

“How did you know it was me, Double M?” Emma said. Emma had given her the nickname a few months after she had arrived, and it had stuck.

Mary Margaret laughed and said, “Who else would it be?” before seeing the worried look on her sister’s face. “Hey, is something wrong? Did you break up with Brian? Did he do something?”

“No...” Emma paused. “I mean, yeah, we broke up, but…” Emma sat down on Mary Margaret’s bed and said, “Do you love me?”

“What? Of course I love you, Em. I’ve loved you since the moment dad brought you home. You know that.” Mary Margaret suddenly froze, and her voice became panicked. “Oh my god. Are you pregnant? Is this what this is about? Because no matter what you do I will love you, don’t you know that?” Mary Margaret embraced her little sister, “Always. No matter what.”

“Thank you...” Emma said, and wiped a tear that Mary Margaret hadn’t noticed she was crying.

“So you are pregnant? Is that why Brian broke up with you, because if he got you pregnant and is just leaving you…” Mary Margaret let the threat trail off as she felt her blood boil – _no one_ hurts her sister. Especially not like that.

“God no, Double M, I didn’t even sleep with him...” Emma said. “I’m not pregnant, I’m just...”

“Em, tell me, please. You can trust me.”

“You promise not to tell dad?” Emma looked at her, pleading, “I just don’t want him to know...”

“Emma, you know he loves you too...”

“Promise, please, Mary Margaret.” Emma rarely used her full name unless something was seriously wrong.

“Hey, hey. I won’t, okay,” Mary Margaret promised. “You can trust me. Just please tell me. I am starting to get worried here.”

Emma stood up from the bed, and started pacing. She looked really worried and scared and Mary Margaret just wanted to make it better, but she couldn’t – not unless Emma told her what was wrong.

“I’m gay…” Emma finally blurted out in a rush of air, so quickly and quietly Mary Margaret almost missed it. “I’m gay,” she repeated.

Mary Margaret was so relieved she could have laughed. “That’s it? Honey, you scared me half to death!” Mary Margaret stood up from her bed, and went to embrace her sister. “I love you, okay? I just want you to be happy, no matter who you love.”

“Really?” Emma whispered as she snuggled her head farther into Mary Margaret’s shoulder, obviously relieved that she finally told someone.

“I love you. I love you,” Mary Margaret repeated. “I love you.”

“Thank you. I’m just so scared.” Emma admitted, as the two sisters moved back onto the bed, “I’m terrified of what Dad will think, and everyone else. Why can’t I just be normal?”

Mary Margaret frowned. “Em, listen to me. You are normal; there is nothing wrong with being gay. You didn’t choose this and Dad will understand. He loves you.”

“He didn’t sign up for this; he took in a sweet blonde ten year old girl, not a gay teenager…” Mary Margaret could hear the worry in Emma’s voice.

“He adopted you because he loves you, Em. He always has, just as I do. You made us whole again. Maybe he will be taken a back at first, be a little surprised. I mean, I can’t say that I saw it coming but I love you. And so does he.”

“Just like that?” Emma said uncertainly. “You’re not gonna to try to change me? Or try to convince me it’s just a phase?”

“Is it? Just a phase, I mean?” Mary Margaret asked. She had no problem with it if her sister was gay, but she had to admit she was worried for her. She knew her sister’s life would be harder, and she had spent so much time trying to protect Emma. This was the one thing she couldn’t protect her from. This wasn’t what she wanted for her, but she didn’t want her to hide either. In the end, all she wanted was for her to be happy.

“No, when you were my age you knew you liked boys, right? You dated that guy, what’s his name, Josh?” Emma said, steadier than before.

“Jamie,” Mary Margaret corrected, “and yes, I knew. Long before that actually. So you know then? That you like girls? What about Brian?” Mary Margaret asked. She just wanted to know, or maybe she needed to.

“Yeah, I am sure. Brian was just a last resort,” Emma explained. “I wanted to see if he could make me feel like everyone says I should feel, but it’s just nothing there. And don’t say it’s just because he is not the right guy, please. When I look at… ” Emma stopped as if suddenly realizing she had said too much.

“At who?” Mary Margaret pressed. “You like someone? Tell me! Come on, Em. I won’t tell. Is it Ruby?”

Emma shook her head. “God, no! Ruby is my best friend! Just, no.”

“So who is it? Come on, tell me.”

“Double M, its stupid okay? She’ll never be interested in me anyway. Besides, I am pretty sure she is into guys.” Emma sighed.

“How will you know if you don’t ask her? Come on, just tell me who it is!”

“Fine, if it makes you shut up. It’s Regina,” Emma said, so fast that Mary Margaret barely caught the name.

“Wait, Regina? As in senior student president Regina?”

Mary Margaret had to say that she was surprised. Regina Mills was senior student president, as well as president for about half the clubs at school, editor of the school paper, chief yearbook editor and held about every other position of power at the school. Her mom was some big shot lawyer and Regina obviously took after her.

“Yes, Regina,” Emma said weakly. “Every time I see her walk down the hall, I just get butterflies in my stomach. But she doesn’t even know who I am.” Emma dropped back onto the bed and groaned.

“Oh, Em. Have you tried talking to her? And are you sure she is straight? I mean she has been dating Graham Humbert for a while, but there was this thing....”

Mary Margaret said before dropping off, realizing that what her sister needed wasn't gossip.

“Of course I haven’t talked to her! She is a senior, MM. I am a sophomore. She is everything, and I am nothing. Besides, I only just told you I am gay, I am not about to make a fool out of myself and make myself the laughing stock of the school by asking Regina Mills out on a date,” she scoffed. “It’s a suicide mission.”

“I wasn’t exactly talking about taking her out on a date,” Mary Margaret said. “Why don’t you join the yearbook staff or the paper? Or one of the hundred other clubs Regina is the president of?”

“Because that means I would have to talk to her, and that’s really hard when I blush when she so much as looks my way in the hall.”

“Wow, you really have it bad for her don’t you?” Mary Margaret laughed; it was a long time since she had something she could joke about with Emma. Sure, she had teased her so much when she had started dating Brian but she had never seemed to care, so it wasn’t that fun.

“It’s not funny!”

“Oh, yeah. It’s totally funny. You have a crush on Regina Mills!” Mary Margaret almost rolled around laughing.

“Seriously, how did I end up in this? I came here to tell you something deeply personal and now you are just sitting here laughing at me. I am never telling you anything ever again!” Emma said, but Mary Margaret could tell that she was more relieved than mad.

“I’m sorry, Em. Do you want to talk about it some more?”

“About what? How Regina will never notice me or that I will eventually have to tell dad that I’m gay?”

The tone of Emma’s voice changed again, it was clear that she was still worried about how their dad would react to the news of her being gay.

“One step at a time, Em. You told me, and I am really glad that you did. You can tell me anything and I will support you. And when you do choose to tell dad, I will be right there with you okay?”

“I love you,” Emma said, and hugged her sister.

“I love you too. So you haven’t told anyone else?”

“No, you were the first.” Emma smiled.

“You haven’t even told Ruby?”

“No. She might be my best friend, but…”

“You were scared.” Mary Margaret finished her sentence. “I am pretty sure Ruby won’t mind, she doesn’t exactly seem like the homophobic type.”

“I know.” Emma took a breath, “But I was more scared of myself than her, I think. Scared to admit it. To say it out loud.”

“Do you feel better now? Now that you’ve said it?”

“Actually I do,” Emma realized. “I was so scared everything would change.” Emma smiled weakly.

“Never,” Mary Margaret said. She hugged her little sister. “You know, Regina is in most of my AP classes. I could always find out if she is gay.”

Emma playfully hit her older sister. “Don’t! Just leave it okay? I don’t have a chance, besides I don’t think I am ready to date anyone yet. I have just started to accept who I am myself; I am not ready to put my heart out there.”

“If you say so, but know that I am always here. No matter what. It doesn’t matter. I love you, and you will always be my baby sister. No matter if you have a crazy crush on president Mills.”

“I hate you, I really do,” Emma said, and hugged her sister, “but thank you, for always being there for me. And for understanding. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“Hey, you’ll never have to figure it out, because I will always be here.” She got out of her bed and walked out over to dresser where she found a picture of the two of them. “You remember this?”

“Yeah, it’s from two years ago right? You had just started dating Josh.”

“Jamie!”

“Whatever, and I was scared you would leave me.”

“Yeah, remember what I told you?” Mary Margaret prompted.

“That I was your sister no matter what happened, no matter who you or I would date. That would never change and we would always be there for each other,” Emma recited, but there was emotion in her voice.

“Exactly, and I still mean that.” She put the picture down again. “So, you wanna bunk in here tonight? For old times’ sake?”

“Yeah, that’d be nice. Thank you.”

“Crawl in.” Mary Margaret said, before turning the lights off.

“Goodnight, Double M, I love you.”

“Goodnight. I love you too, Emma.”

 


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I obviously do not own anything. I barely own the clothes on my back.
> 
> I will try (to the best of my intentions) to post a new chapter every Wednesday. Also as usual, a big thanks to my beta, aurorstorm/leaving-storybrooke for turning my mess into this.

Emma had never really liked school, and it bugged her how much her sister did.

“Why are you so happy?” Emma asked Mary Margaret. “It’s 8 o’clock on a Monday morning!” Emma groaned. She hated Mondays.

“Unlike you, I actually like school,” Mary Margaret said, “but you’re unusually grumpy today. Did you have a fight with Ruby or something?”

“Of course not. When have I ever had a fight with Ruby? I just really hate Mondays!”

Mary Margaret was right, of course. She was always right. She _was_ unusually grumpy and it had nothing to with Ruby, and even less to do with Mondays. She had spent the last two weeks trying to figure out a natural way to talk to Regina, but all her ideas had either been stupid or she had chickened out at the last minute.

Emma hated that she was so shy and nervous around Regina; if anything, Emma would call herself reckless, not this shy and scared person she became around Regina.

“It’s nothing, I swear,” Emma said, as her sister parked the car.

“If you say so. I have to run because I promised I meet James before school.” Emma just shot her sister a “really?!” look and got out of the car.

“I have soccer practice after school, so you’ll have to take the bus or ride with Ruby,” Mary Margaret said as she practically ran towards the steps where James and his group of blonde cheerleaders were situated.

Emma walked into the school just as the as weekly announcements were made on the monitors, and Regina being student president was the one who presented them. This was the only thing Emma liked about Mondays – the opportunity to stare at Regina without anyone noticing or caring.

Emma stopped in front of the closest monitor to watch. Regina really was beautiful. She always seemed so regal when performing her presidential duties, like she was born or at the very least bred to be a leader. Emma was so lost in Regina’s voice that she didn’t even notice someone coming up behind her.

“Hi!” Emma jumped at the voice of her best friend.

“You scared me half to death, Red.”

The nickname had stuck around ever since Emma met Ruby, and she’d had red highlights put through her hair. She still had one single stripe but nothing like what she had when she was 12.

“How could I know that you’d be lost in thoughts about our wonderful president again?” Ruby teased.

“Ruby!” Emma almost hissed, “Someone could have heard you. I knew I shouldn’t have told you.”

“Ha, like you could keep a secret from me.” Ruby stuck her tongue out at Emma.

“I know. “ Emma pouted, and Ruby pulled her into a hug.

“Relax.” Ruby kissed her cheek. “I won’t tell anyone.”

Emma smiled, “I trust you.” Ruby was the only person other than her sister that Emma trusted with her life. “So what did you do this weekend?” Emma asked eager to change the topic.

“Absolutely nothing. Gran wouldn’t even let me out of the house.”

Emma laughed. ”Are you still grounded because of the whole Stephen thing?”

“She is totally overacting. It’s not like we were sleeping together. He is _fourteen._ ” Ruby said with an eye-roll, but they both knew that Ruby’s grandmother was only looking out for her. Especially when it came to boys.

“You know, Red, sometimes you remind me so much of Double M.” Emma smiled.

“Speaking of your sister, I saw her outside with James and his group. Is she dating him?” Ruby’s voice was bitter, but nothing beyond what was expected. It was less than two months ago since James had broken her heart.

“I don’t actually know. I know she likes him. But you know my sister.”

“Yeah, I do. Just tell her to be careful, please. She is so much better than him. “

“I will.”

Ruby kissed Emma’s cheek. “I have to run, I have biology first period.”

“See you at lunch?” Emma shouted after her.

“Always!”

Emma smiled; Ruby was really one of a kind. She walked over to her locker and took out her algebra books and groaned. Another reason why she hated Mondays, algebra first period was like asking for the class to fall asleep.

Just as she closed her locker and started to walk towards her class, she walked right into someone. And suddenly the floor was showered with books and folders.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry,” Emma said, as she looked up to see who she walked into – shit. _Regina_. Of _course_ she would walk into Regina. Probably not the most ideal way to meet the woman of your dreams, Emma told herself.

“It’s my fault,” Regina said with a sigh, “I have too many books.”

“And these are all for AP classes?” Emma asked, extremely impressed. Regina seemed to be brilliant in everything, how could she even have the time for all of it? “That’s impressive,” she added with a smile.

“Wait, aren’t you Mary Margaret’s sister? Ella?” Regina asked with a smile that made Emma’s heart flutter. Regina almost knew her name! She knew who she was!

“Emma,” she corrected with a smile. “It’s Emma.” She reached out her hand, seeing as most of Regina’s books were still on the floor.

“I’m Regina.” Regina said, and shook Emma’s head.

“I know.” Emma said with a nervous laugh. “I mean… everybody knows who you are, Madame President,” Emma said, trying to make a joke.

Regina smiled at her and Emma’s heart fluttered again. This was actually happening. She was having a conversation with Regina, or at least taking to her. And Regina Mills was talking back!

“I am really sorry I made you drop all your books. Now you are probably late, too...”

“First of all it was my fault,” Regina said, and there was that smile again. Emma hoped she could find a way to see that smile every day for the rest of her life. “Secondly, I actually have first period free. I am only here to do the announcements and do some work on the paper.”

“Wow, you really are devoted to your position. I wouldn’t have got out of bed before 10 if I had first period Monday free!”

Regina gave a small laugh, and Emma was certain it was the prettiest sound she had ever had. “I get up at six every day.”

“Holy mother of...” Emma said, and shuddered.

Regina smiled at her as she picked up her last book, just before the bell rang.

“Damn,” Emma cursed, “I’m late for algebra. It was really nice meeting you, Regina.” Emma tried to sound nonchalant. It wasn’t like half of her dreams just came through because she was a clumsy idiot.

“Same to you, Emma.” Regina smiled and walked towards the newspaper room as Emma hurried towards her class.

“You are late, again, Miss Swan-Blanchard” her teacher drawled without looking up as Emma tried to sneak into the classroom.

“I’m sorry,” Emma said, but she didn’t mean it. “It won’t happen again.”

“I think we both know it will. Please take your seat, Miss Swan-Blanchard. And I’ll see you in detention after all.”

So worth it, Emma thought, so completely worth it. She pulled out her book with a smile on her face. Maybe Mondays weren’t so bad after all.

 

 

 


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Truth be told, Emma was terrified about giving her heart to Regina. She was terrified that it would never heal again if Regina broke it. But she didn’t want her sister to know that, because then Mary Margaret would never let her within five feet of Regina, and that somehow seemed even worse than getting her heart broken.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own any of this, not Emma, not Regina, not Mary Margaret, they all belong to ABC. As usual a big thanks to my beta aurorstorm/leaving-storybrooke who is my life line.

It’d been three weeks since Regina had talked to her, and Emma had started to think that she had blown her chance to get to know the girl that she had already fallen in love with. She knew it was stupid to claim to love someone she didn’t even know, and maybe it wasn’t love. Maybe it was just a stupid little school girl crush, but if it was, Emma wondered what love really felt like.

”So I invited Regina to my birthday party...” Mary Margaret said casually as she and Emma were sitting down to eat dinner.

“What? Did she say yes?” Emma said, a little bit too enthused for even her own taste. Why couldn’t she be more casual when it came to Regina?

“Relax, Em,” Mary Margaret said with a smile, “She said yes.”

“But she’s never been here before. Have you even talked to her before? What if she realizes you only invited her because I like her?” Emma went from excited to horrified in three seconds flat.

“Relax,” Mary Margaret said again with a little laugh in her voice. “We’ve been working on a project together for the past three weeks. She is actually really nice. I understand why you like her.”

“You have worked with her for three weeks and you didn’t tell me!?” Emma practically shrieked.

Emma’s emotions were all over the place at this moment. Why hadn’t her sister told her? Why hadn’t she introduced them? Her sister knew Regina and hung out with her. This could change things. Maybe this was it, her second chance. Oh my god, what was she going to do?

“Woah, Em. We are partners for an English project, it’s not like I took her behind the bleachers.”

Emma was freaking out now. She tried to calm herself down. ‘Relax, Emma. Relax,’ she told herself. ‘Mary Margaret is right. It’s a project for English, not marriage or even a _BFFs for life_ bracelet. One step at a time. Look at the positive things. This is your way in; she is coming to the party where you can talk to her, properly and hopefully a little more gracefully than last time,’ she told herself.

“Sorry, I guess. She makes me a little crazy,” Emma said and smiled.

“I can tell,” Mary Margaret laughed, “but anyway, she is coming to my party on Saturday.”

“What am I going to wear? Is she bringing someone?” Emma was back at frantic now.

“That gorgeous red dress, the one that makes it seem like your legs go on forever, and no. She isn’t even dating someone.”

“How do you know?”

“I might have asked her.”

“What?”

“I started talking about James, and then I just asked if she was seeing someone.”

“Wait – are you seeing James now? He is such a jerk; you know he cheated on Ruby?”

“I am not, well – not really.”

“He just takes you behind the bleachers, is that what you’re saying?”

“No!” Mary Margaret looked a little hurt. “Maybe. I have no idea what I am doing, Em,” she admitted.

“He’s a jerk, and I’m not just saying that because he broke my best friend’s heart. Be careful, please.”

“I could say the same to you, about Regina.”

“I thought you said you liked her.”

“I do, she is nice when she opens up. But she rarely does. She is very closed off. I am just scared you are setting yourself up for some serious heartbreak.”

“Double M,” Emma said, hoping that the nickname would bring a sense of familiarity to the conversation, “I don’t even know if she likes girls. I am not dating her; she barely even knows my name.”

“You say that now, but I see that way you look at her. You’ve already fallen, Em. And I am scared for you. She will break your heart.”

“Maybe, but what if she doesn’t? What if she turns out to be my forever?”

“Have you been watching South of Nowhere again?”

“Maybe,” Emma said, blushing. “But that’s not the point. How will I know if Regina could be the one if I back away now? Because she might break my heart?”

Truth be told, Emma was terrified about giving her heart to Regina. She was terrified that it would never heal again if Regina broke it. But she didn’t want her sister to know that, because then Mary Margaret would never let her within five feet of Regina, and that somehow seemed even worse than getting her heart broken.

“I could say the same about James, you know?” Mary Margaret countered.

“But that’s different.”

“Why? Because he cheated on Ruby?”

“Regina isn’t a bitch or a cheater; she hasn’t proved to be anything other than very good at everything she ever tries.”

“I know.”

“I’m sorry; I know you are only trying to protect me. Like you always have. And I can’t hate you for trying to protect me. Not that I could ever hate you anyway.”

“Em, you are my baby sister and I love you more than anything. I will always look after you, it’s my job.” Mary Margaret hugged her sister.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Inviting her.” Emma blushed; this would be the perfect time to talk to Regina. Like, _really_ talk to her, get to know her and make her fall madly in love, Emma hoped desperately.

“Hey, I do want you to be happy.”

“I know. Thank you.” Emma smiled at her sister before reaching panic mode again, “Dad will never ever let me go to your party. He will be scared some drunk senior will take advantage of me or something. The only reason he lets you go out on dates and stuff is because he thinks you are still a virgin.”

“Emma!” Mary Margaret scolded, despite knowing it was probably true. “You know he trusts you more than that, especially seeing as you’re not even interested in boys.”

Emma stuck out her tongue at her sister.

“Real mature, Em. Maybe you are too young for this.” Mary Margaret teased.

“No way, you can convince dad everything will be okay. You are a miracle worker with him, Double M.”

“You know he is just worried about you because you are his baby. You know that right? The only reason why is stricter with you than with me is because he worries about you. All the time.”

Mary Margaret hugged her sister. And they both knew it was true. He had been watching over Emma like a hawk ever since he brought her home. It had barely been six months since Mary Margaret’s mother had died of cancer, and bringing Emma home had changed something within the house. It had brought it to life again. And they both knew that was why Leo was so overprotective of Emma. She had in many ways saved their family.

“I know. I know. I just wish I was allowed to be more like you.” Emma smiled, “Well, not completely like you.”

Now, it was Mary Margaret’s turn to stick her tongue out at her sister. “There is absolutely nothing wrong with me. I am just trying to find that one guy. I just happen to have to kiss a lot of frogs to find my Prince Charming.”

“Eurgh.” Emma made a throwing up motion.

Mary Margret laughed, “Is that because of the frogs or the Prince Charming?”

“Both,” Emma laughed, and threw her arms around her sister. “You know I love you, despite your slutty ways,” she teased.

“Emma!”

Emma just laughed, shrugged, and said, “Well, it’s true.”

Mary Margaret smiled, “Fine. I guess you‘re right. But we do need a battle plan for dad.”

“Do I have to be involved in this? He has much more trouble saying no to you.” Emma pouted. It wasn’t that her dad usually said no to her, but Mary Margret had the most amazing set of puppy dog eyes that were impossible to say no to.

“Well, I can’t deny that. If I say that I absolutely need my baby sister at my birthday party...” Mary Margaret smiled.

“He won’t say no.” Emma beamed and hugged her sister. “Thank you so much for this. I don’t think you even know how much it means to me.”

Mary Margaret smiled. “I think I do.”

 


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The big party is here. Could this be Emma's chance to get close to Regina?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own OUAT or any of the characters you recognize in this fic. Also as usual, a huge thanks to my beta, aurorstorms/leaving-storybrooke for all her help.

The party was already in full swing by the time Emma felt ready to join the crowd. She had decided to wear the dress that apparently made it seem like her legs went on forever, according to Mary Margaret. She was actually surprised her dad had let her attend the party at all, seeing as it was mostly seniors there, but Mary Margaret had convinced him to let her be there because she was her sister and she wanted to share her big day with her sister. For some reason it had actually worked and Emma was more than grateful to her sister.

Emma exited her room and was met by a wall of sound. Not just music, but loud teenagers – really loud, tipsy teenagers. “Damn,” Emma said out loud, “The party only started half an hour ago.”

“Your first senior party?” Emma heard someone say behind her. She was surprised that she’d heard him at all over all the noise.

“How can you tell?” Emma said, and turned around to face a handsome guy who she knew was on the student council with Regina. He might have even been vice president.

“You look a little lost, and besides, I heard you sounded surprised that people are already drunk. Most people come to these parties already drunk, you see.”

Emma smiled. “I have no idea how dad could agree to let me attend this. He has to be clueless.”

“Your sister puts on a great act of innocence,” he explained, and smiled at Emma. “I’m Graham by the way.”

Of course he is Graham, she knew that. She had even seen him talking to Regina on several occasions. Actually, come to think of it, Emma was a little jealous of the guy who obviously had some sort of relationship with Regina.

“Emma,” she told him.

“I know.” Graham smiled at her. “I know your sister reasonably well.”

“Did you date her too?” Emma said with a laugh. Emma loved her sister, more than anything. But she had to admit her sister was kind of loose.

“No, no. Not that I would be opposed to do so, she is hot.”

“Eww. That’s my sister you are talking about.”

She hit him playfully on the shoulder, as if they were friends rather than acquaintances. Emma didn’t know what it was, but she liked this guy. She didn’t really have any guy friends; actually, she didn’t really have that many friends other than Ruby.

“Come on, she is hot,” Graham said again with a little smirk, “but I hear she is dating that asshole.”

“James?” Emma said with a sour look on her face. “I don’t think they are actually dating.”

“I just know that they were making out like crazy in the living room before I walked up here.”

“Thank for the warning, I really do not need to see that.” Emma said with a smile. “It was nice meeting you Graham.”

“Are you going somewhere?” Graham asked, and Emma hoped she hadn’t sent any signals she really didn’t want to send.

“I didn’t plan on spending the entire night hanging outside my bedroom door, no,” Emma tried to say sarcastically, when all she really wanted to do was find Regina and try to seduce her with her awesome red dress.

“Really?” he said with a wink, and now Emma was certain he was flirting. Damnit. She hadn’t really been in this situation since she came out, because most of the people in her class knew she was gay due to Ruby’s less than subtle comments whenever she felt like it.

“Graham, the thing is…” Emma started before getting interrupted by someone else’s shout, “Graham!”

Graham turned around and almost crashed into Sean, “Hey!”

“You have to come see this!” Sean said, and dragged Graham down the stairs.

“I guess I’ll see you later, Emma,” he said as he was being dragged away.

Emma breathed out in relief. It’s not like she _hated_ coming out, she’d done it enough times, it’s just it was hard to know how different people would react. While she hadn’t actually had any bad experiences yet, it’s not like that could last forever.

She turned around and took the second staircase that led down to the kitchen to avoid going through the living room and seeing her sister make out with the asshole who made Ruby cry for two weeks straight. Emma hadn’t been sure her best friend would ever recover. Obviously she had, however, and she was now dating a freshman, having decided that younger men were the way to go.

There were people everywhere, in the kitchen as well, and most of them Emma hadn’t even seen before. Part of her wondered how her sister could be so popular among everyone. She wasn’t a typical queen bee – a nerd more than anything – and she was honest to god nice, practically everything a popular girl was not, yet, with all of her charm and good looks she was easily the most popular girl in her class.

Emma on the other hand was nothing like her sister, not really anyway. She had a very small group of friends which mostly just consisted of her and Ruby, as well as Ashley sometimes, and whoever Ruby happened to be dating at the time. She wasn’t popular but she wasn’t teased or bullied either. She was mostly invisible and Emma liked it that way. She would never be comfortable in the spotlight.

Emma opened the fridge to see if she could find the coke she knew she had hidden in there yesterday, in hopes of finding some sort of beverage that was not spiked with vodka. While Graham was right that this was her first senior party, she wasn’t stupid.

“Aha!” Emma said, not really realizing she said it out loud as she found the coke bottle.

“Did you find gold or something?” someone said behind her – except it wasn’t someone, it was _her_.

“Regina...” Emma turned around and looked into the eyes of the brunette she had been waiting for the whole night, and she was absolutely breathtaking.

“Emma, right?” Regina smiled at her, and Emma felt like her whole universe fell into place because Regina Mills had remembered her name and smiled at her.

“Yeah, it’s nice to meet you again.”

Really, Emma? Nice to meet you again? That was probably the most boring thing she could have said. Why must Regina Mills make her brain turn into to mush?

“So what did you find?” Regina smiled at her again, and Emma almost lost the control of her voice, so she just showed Regina her bottle.

“That is practically a treasure at these parties.” Regina laughed, more free-spirited than Emma had ever seen her. She assumed that it was because Regina didn’t have to be someone in that moment, not extremely smart Regina, senior student president Regina, captain of the debate team Regina; she just had to be Regina. And Emma wondered how often Regina actually had the chance to be just Regina.

-

“I really like your room,” Regina said as they walked into Emma’s room.

Oh god, she couldn’t do this. What in the world was she thinking? Inviting Regina up to her room, to talk, she had explained. Get away from the noise. While it’d worked, she was now sitting alone with Regina in her bedroom. Regina Mills was in her bedroom.

‘Emma, pull yourself together. You can do this,’ she told herself. This was her one shot and damn her if she was going to blow it.

“Thanks. Dad let me and Mary Margaret design our own rooms when we moved in here last year.” Good, Emma. Good. That was a nice, respectable answer. You can do this. Emma felt herself relax just a little.

“You get a lot of freedom?” Regina asked.

“I guess.” Emma thought the question was a little strange but she didn’t question it too much. “He wants us to learn how to make our own decisions and live with the consequences,” Emma smiled, ”or something like that.”

“I think that’s a good thing.” Regina smiled back.

“Probably. Both me and Double M can be both reckless and stubborn. Not the best combination.”

Regina walked around the room and looked at the pictures on Emma’s wall and dresser. Emma walked over to her, finding a courage she didn’t even know she had when it came to Regina, and pointed a picture of her and Mary Margaret eating ice cream.

“That was taken on the day the adoption went through. “ Emma said, “It was the first time in my life I felt like I had a family.” Emma smiled sadly.

“I didn’t know you were adopted.”

“I am,” Emma said simply, “I guess that’s why I am so…” she trailed off.

“Shy?” Regina suggested.

“Closed off,” Emma corrected.

“You seem pretty open to me.” Regina smiled.

“I don’t know why, but it’s different with you.” Emma said, carefully, and turned away.

And it was, everything was so different around Regina, and Emma didn’t know exactly why. She just felt safe somehow.

“You are rather complicated.” Emma turned around, and saw the smile on Regina’s face.

“Me? Well, if I am complicated, then you are a mystery Madame President.”

“Me?”

“Yeah, everybody knows you Regina. But no one really does. They know student body president Regina, or yearbook editor Regina or editor of the school paper Regina. Everybody knows you’re brilliant, but nothing else,” Emma said, trying to convey that she wanted to get to know the Regina behind the mask, but without offending her. All Emma wanted was this. The two of them talking as friends.

“But under all that, I’m nothing special,” Regina said, and the tone in her voice made Emma realize that she believed it. That was incredibly sad because to Emma, Regina was everything. And they were just beginning whatever this was.

“Don’t be so certain,” Emma said, and her tone wasn’t flirty. It was sincere, because she wanted Regina to see what she saw. “I have a feeling there is more to you than what you let people see.”

“Maybe.” Regina looked away. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For letting me be less than perfect.”

Emma wanted to say that to her she was always perfect, but she could sense that wasn’t what Regina was looking for.

“We’re kind of friends, huh?” Emma said, instead.

Regina turned back around, and smiled at her, “Yeah. We are.”

And it was everything she ever could dare to hope for. Regina Mills being her friend. She smiled to herself. Things might finally go her way.

“Hey, is something wrong?” Regina asked, noticing the sudden sad look on Emma’s face. The look she tried to hide, but somehow was always there behind the surface threatening to come out.

Emma looked away, and to the teddy bear who was standing on her dresser. Mary Margaret had gotten it to her right after she moved in; it was the first gift she had ever gotten that was just because. It was the first time she felt like someone truly loved her.

But Emma wasn’t that little girl anymore, the girl who only knew goodbye, who never realized that not all people leave. The Blanchards had changed her life into something real. They had brought her into their family. They had given her a home.

“If I tell you, do you promise not to tell anyone?” Emma asked as she turned around, for while the Blanchards had taught her love and given her a home, Emma was still fragile. She was scared of trust, and in many ways also scared of love. Which is why Regina complicated her feelings, complicated everything. Regina didn’t fit into Emma’s boxes of family and friends. Regina was something completely different and Emma didn’t want to fight it.

And why should she? Regina was here with her, just the two of them. Regina laughed at her jokes, and smiled at her. When would she ever get this chance again? Being alone with Regina like this, in circumstances like these.

Regina could be what she had been searching for. Putting herself out there could break her but what if it didn’t? What if it healed that last part of her, the part that no matter how much her family loved her and she loved them, ten years in the foster system had broken beyond repair.

“Trust me. I can keep a secret.” Regina said, and her voice had a sadness that almost broke Emma’s heart. Yeah, there was so much more to this girl that what she let people see.

“I never had a mother. And while I love Mary Margaret and my dad, I have always felt like something is missing.”

“But you’re lucky,” The sadness still present in Regina’s voice, “You know you are wanted. They chose you.” Regina smiled weakly, as if she was holding something back. Something important, but Emma didn’t want to push.

She was building something here, building something with Regina. If she wanted to open up, she would.

“Maybe. You’re probably right, but still it feels like a part of me is missing. My birthparents left me on the side of the road; they didn’t even bother to take me to a hospital or a church. I spent 10 years shuffled between people who didn’t want me, just the government checks.” Emma paused. “I feel like it broke something inside of me.”

Regina moved closer to Emma, and looked into her eyes with an understanding that made Emma’s heart stop. “Trust me. You are not broken.”

God damn, the girl was so very beautiful and her eyes were an ocean Emma could drown in. “How d’you know?” Emma asked carefully, and there was a flash of pain in Regina’s eyes.

“Trust me, I know.” And in that moment Emma believed that Regina Mills was an extraordinary human being. The most amazing she had ever met.

Emma looked into Regina’s eyes, and she was so close. It was almost impossible not to lean in and kiss her… actually, screw it. It _was_ impossible. Emma closed the gap between them and her lips carefully met Regina’s.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't like begging for comments, but please comment :)


	5. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the big kiss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always a huge thanks to my beta aurorstorm/leaving-storybrooke who is in fact the only reason why this fic is readable, and as always I do not own OUAT or any of the recognizable characters.

“Emma…” Regina broke the kiss, and looked at her as if to say, ‘What the hell?’

Emma looked back at Regina with a mix of hurt and amazement. She’d wanted desperately to do this; she had _needed_ to kiss Regina.

“I have to go,” Regina said and moved swiftly towards the door.

Emma fell down on the floor as Regina closed the door behind her, with her back towards her bed, and cried. She felt that she’d ruined everything; why did she have to be that stupid? She’d probably wrecked it all, and Regina would never want to talk to her again. All because Regina had just looked so beautiful, and Emma couldn’t fight the urge to kiss her.

She had no idea how long she’d been sitting on the floor when she heard a knock on her door. “Just go away!” Emma yelled through her tears.

Unfortunately, the person on the other side refused to leave and instead opened the door and peered in. “Emma?”

To Emma’s surprise it wasn’t Mary Margaret, but Graham. “What are you doing here?” she said, and tried to wipe away her tears.

“Your sister was worried about you, but she didn’t exactly say why. I was worried, too; I hadn’t seen you in a while, and I wanted to make sure nothing was wrong.”

Of course, Emma thought to herself. Mary Margaret had probably seen Regina run out of here and realized something was wrong. Her sister also knew her well enough to know she wouldn’t want to talk to her now.

“Would you believe me if I said there was nothing wrong?” Emma asked, still wiping away her tears.

“Not even remotely,” Graham said. He closed the door and sat down next to her. “Do you want to talk about it? Apparently I am a very good listener,” he said, and wiped the tears away from her cheek.

“No. Maybe. I don’t know. I don’t know anything anymore.” 

“Did someone do something to you? Do I need to go beat some guy up?”

“No, no... I did something extremely stupid. I screwed everything up!” Emma was reaching a state where she was done being sad and started to reach anger - not at Regina, but at herself for ruining everything so quickly.

“I don’t really know you that well, but whatever you did I doubt it was that bad.” 

“Exactly. You don’t know me, so why do you even care?”

Great, now she had definitely reached anger. Didn’t she just skip a few stages of grief? Whatever; Emma had never really followed the rules or what was expected of her after all. 

“Because I do. What man can refuse a damsel in distress?” Graham smiled at her, and Emma felt almost sorry for him. He was such a good guy, who was obviously wasting his time barking up the wrong tree. 

“Thanks, but I am not looking for a white knight.” Emma said, and forced a smile. She was looking for a Queen or in her case a president. She was looking for Regina, and only Regina. And she had wasted her chance by being rash. She couldn’t even blame alcohol seeing as she didn’t have any.

“I wasn’t hitting on you, okay? Maybe earlier tonight, but not now. I’m not the kind of guy who takes advantage of a girl in distress.”

“I’m sorry. I am being a bitch, and I’m upset. And everything is messed up, and I am stupid and…” Emma rambled on.

“Hey, I still don’t know what happened or what you did. But you are not stupid, nor a bitch. Trust me, I know a bitch when I meet one.” 

Emma laughed softly. “Thanks, I guess.”

“So are you ready to tell me what happened?”

“Can I trust you?” she asked. Trust scared Emma. It always had, as being left behind and having to start over again and again made it hard to trust people, even now.

“Of course,” Graham said, “We are friends now, aren’t we?” He smiled at her. 

“Friends, huh?” Emma smiled back at him. “I like that.”

“So, tell me?” 

“I made a complete fool out of myself, with someone I like. Someone I really, really, really like. A lot.” 

Graham took Emma’s hand in a friendly gesture, “Whatever it was, I am sure it wasn’t as bad as you think it is.”

“But it was. I blew my chance with her. I’ve scared her away now.” Emma said, no longer trying to keep the pronouns out of the conversation. 

“Her? I really didn’t have a chance, did I?” Graham said with a chuckle. 

Emma was surprised over just how comforting Graham’s presence ended up being. Whatever happened after today, she would probably be glad for Graham caring for her.

“I’m sorry. You have been super kind to me today, and I have no idea why but...”

“You’re gay?” Graham asked.

“Yes.” Emma said and looked away. 

Her eyes found the teddy bear that Ruby got her at her 13th birthday, so she would never have to be alone again. Ruby had been a godsend when she moved to Storybrooke. She understood loss in a way that Emma had never really had anyone to share with before. They had become friends instantly bonding over being outcasts and different. 

“It’s going to be okay.” Graham said, and she turned her head back to him, “Trust me on this. Heartbreak sucks. And sometimes it feels like you will never be happy again. But you will.”

“The thing is, I would have been happy just being her friend, you know? Of course I wanted more, but just talking to her was so much more than I could ever have imagined. So, I would’ve been happy with that. But I scared her off.” Emma said

“Hey, maybe all hope isn’t lost. Talk to her at school on Monday. Tell her you are sorry for whatever you did and ask if you can just be friends?” Graham stood up and walked over to the television set, and pressed play on the DVD player. “But for now, we are gonna sit down and watch whatever you have in your DVD player for a while.” 

Emma smiled as Graham moved towards her bed and an episode of “South of Nowhere” started playing on her screen. 

“Thank you for this.” Emma said, and crawled up into Graham’s lap as if they had been friends forever. She needed someone to lean on, and Graham seemed to volunteer. 

-

As the credits rolled over the screen, Emma looked over at the clock on her nightstand and it was glowing a clear 3:47. 

“Graham, it’s almost 4. Maybe you should go home.” Emma said, “I’m going to be okay. Thank you for staying and watching South of Nowhere with me. I know it’s probably not your kind of TV show.” 

Graham grinned at her, as he sat up on the bed. “I have actually had a nice time. You are a great girl, Emma. And one day you are going to find a girl that loves you the way you deserve.”

Emma climbed down from the bed as Graham did, and hugged him tightly. 

“Thank you. I’ll walk you down. It sounds like the party is over. Actually, it might have been over for a while.” Emma realized.

“It was actually slowing down when I came up here almost two hours ago. Someone, I have a feeling it was Sean and James, spilled beer all over the living room floor and your sister threw a fit that was definitely one of her finest moments.” Graham laughed. 

“My sister is many things, and one of those is a clean freak. Also, Dad made her promise that nothing would break and that she wouldn’t drink anything. The whole living room smelling like beer might make Dad believe otherwise.”

They walked down the stairs to find Mary Margaret cleaning the living room floor, and Emma almost walked into a huge black plastic bag filled with plastic glasses and bottles of various kinds. 

“You still here, Graham? I thought you left hours ago.” Mary Margret smiled at them, and Emma couldn’t help but wonder how her sister would have reacted if Emma wasn’t gay. Probably thrown another fit, and kicked Graham out on his ass. The image made Emma laugh. 

“Nah, I have been hanging out with Emma watching lesbians fall in love or something.” Graham smiled, and kissed Emma’s cheek. 

They walked to the door. “Talk to her, okay?” He told her as he stepped outside. “And talk to me if you need to.” 

“I will.” Emma said, and closed the door behind him. 

“You made him watch South of Nowhere with you?” Mary Margaret gave her a knowing look. “Are you okay?”

“I didn’t make him, it was his idea. Sort of. And I think so. Or I will be. Thank you for sending him up to me.” 

“I know you. Better than you know yourself sometimes.” Mary Margaret smiled, and hugged her sister. “I saw Regina running out of here. Something happened didn’t it?” Mary Margaret said, as she led Emma over to the couch. 

“I screwed up. As I always do. We were talking and having a great time, and it felt like she was opening up to me. And I ruined everything by kissing her.” Emma said with a sigh. She was ready to talk about it now with her sister. 

“You kissed her?” Mary Margaret asked incredulously. “And that’s why she ran out?” 

“Yeah, she totally freaked. I can’t believe I was that stupid. I couldn’t just let it be. But when do I ever?” Emma said.

“I’m sorry. I know you really like her.” Mary Margaret hugged Emma tightly. “But you will find someone. You are wonderful, Emma. And one day you’ll find someone who loves you the way you deserve.”

“Funny, that’s what Graham said too. He is really a great guy. And he actually liked me. Sometimes being gay sucks.” Emma said with a cheeky grin. “You should date him.”

“I have a boyfriend, Emma. But yes, Graham is a great guy. Did you tell him that it was Regina?” 

“Pfft, Graham is so much better than James.” Emma said. “Just saying.” She added when she saw the look on her sister’s face. “And no, I didn’t. He and Regina are friends or something. I felt like I would betray her even more by telling him that it was her.”

“You are a lovely person, Emma, and Regina would be an idiot not to be your friend just because you made a mistake.” Mary Margaret sighed. “You could talk to her. Tell her that you’d be happy to just be friends and that you are sorry for breaking her trust or whatever.”

“I will. I’ll try, at least. I have to apologize, and if she never wants to talk to me again I’ll deal with it. Ruby has been trying to hook me up with her cousin for months. Maybe I’ll go on a date. I guess kissing Regina proves that I’m ready for a relationship, in a way.”

“I just want you to be happy.” Mary Margaret said, “But it’s four in the morning. You need to go to bed. Dad is coming back at noon, and if you haven’t slept he’ll think you are hung over and therefore kill me.”

“Thanks, Double M. I love you. And I’ll deal with this on Monday. Good night.” Emma hugged her sister and walked back up the stairs. “It was a good party though” she called down from the top of the stairs.

“Goodnight, Emma.” Mary Margaret said, and Emma walked into her bedroom, laid down on the bed and fell asleep immediately. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make a poor college student rich.


	6. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma tries to set things right with Regina.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still don't own OUAT or any of the characters you recognize, and also still a huge thanks to my beta (leaving-storybrooke/aurorstorm) for helping me, especially with this chapter.

“You can do this Emma. You can do this,” Emma whispered to herself as she entered the school on Monday morning. All she had to do was find Regina, which shouldn’t be too hard seeing as it was a Monday, and apologize. 

Emma looked carefully around the halls; they were still reasonably empty. She had asked Mary Margaret if they could go to school early, so that she could talk to Regina before school started. It had sounded clever when she came up with the idea but right now? Not so much.

She knew she had to talk to her if she would have any chance of even a friendship with the girl. But what had seemed to make sense when Mary Margaret and Graham told her was slightly more horrifying when she was standing here alone. What if Regina didn’t forgive her? Or even worse, what if Regina thought she was a freak? She wasn’t quite sure if she could deal with that outcome. It’s one thing to be rejected by your crush; it’s a whole other deal if she thinks you’re a freak as well. 

Why hadn’t she just randomly dropped the “gay bomb” when she had talked to her before, so she at least knew what Regina felt about homosexuality? This was one of the times where Emma wished she wasn’t gay. They came and went, and for the most part they went, but sometimes she knew that it would be easier if she were straight. She looked at how easy Mary Margaret seemed to have it. Her sister had everything, and Emma was somehow always left feeling like she had practically nothing. 

It wasn’t as if she didn’t love her sister, or her father or Ruby, and she appreciated them every day because once upon a time she really did have nothing. But nothing ever came easily for her, not school, not love, certainly not trust or even friendship. She felt like she had to fight for everything, and she wished that just once she could get something without fighting for it. Just once. 

Completely lost in thought, Emma didn’t notice that the halls were starting to become crowded and that a certain brunette girl came around the corner, so as she walked towards the media center she walked right into Regina. 

“Oof,” Emma heard, and looked into the eyes of the very person she was trying to both find and avoid at the same time. 

“We have to stop meeting like this,” Emma laughed, then internally cringed. Really, she thought, that’s my line? Nothing did come easily to her after all. 

“Emma…” Regina said, almost breathless. Emma couldn’t tell if it was from the crash or some other reason. 

“I’m sorry,” Emma blurted out-- better to get it out of the way, after all.

“Don’t be, I was the one who wasn’t watching where I was going… again.” Regina smiled at her, and Emma gained some hope that the girl didn’t completely hate her.

“That wasn’t what I was apologizing for…” Emma tried to smile but she could feel it fall short; she was too nervous. She had been planning her speech the whole weekend but now that the moment was here she had forgotten every single thing she planned on saying.

“Oh.” Regina paused, and then looked at her watch. “Do you want to go in here?” She pointed to the media room. “Graham isn’t due for another 20 minutes or so.”

Emma wasn’t sure if Regina wanted to have this talk out of public because she was embarrassed or scared for her reputation, or if she sensed Emma’s nervousness and wanted to make it better for her. Whatever it was, Emma couldn’t help but be a little grateful for it.

“Okay,” she said, and followed Regina into the media room, and sat down opposite of Regina.

“I’m sorry...” Both girls started to say at the same time, and Emma’s heart fluttered a little again, for no reason other than the smile on Regina’s face and the way her eyes looked. 

“No, I mean it,” Regina said. “The way I acted. I shouldn’t have just run out like that.”

“I was the one who betrayed your trust,” Emma said, barely above a whisper. “I shouldn’t have kissed you like that.” She stopped herself before she added ‘you were just so beautiful.’ There was no reason to throw more salt on the open wound after all. “I’m just sorry. I never should have… I am not…” 

Emma struggled to find the words; despite spending the entire weekend trying to figure out what to say and how to say it and planning every possible scenario. Sitting here with Regina, all the planning just went out the window, and Emma wondered if that was something she would have to get used to, if Regina would ever agree to speak with her again, because it seemed that with Regina, there was no point in planning anything.

“Emma…” Regina said, before reaching across the table and taking Emma’s hand. “Never apologize for who you are.” There was something in her voice that made Emma’s heart melt, like it was something so profound and excellent and life changing, despite being something she had heard probably a million times.

“I still shouldn’t have kissed you, Regina.” Emma said, “I just… I like you.” 

There, she said it. Truth is, it probably was obvious after the kiss, but at least she said it. She looked at Regina for some sort of reaction of disgust, some sort of reaction to anything really. So far, Regina had been sweet to her, talked to her and it seemed like she understood her. And it threw Emma for a loop because she had run out of her bedroom that night like she was on fire.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Emma. I should have talked to you that night instead of running out. I guess you caught me by surprise,” Regina said, and she smiled a genuine smile at Emma.

“I shouldn’t have done what I did either; I guess I got caught up in the moment. And I swear it will never happen again. I will walk out of this door and never talk to you again if that’s what you want,” Emma said, and tried to keep the heartache at bay. 

But if she was completely honest with herself, even if Regina told her to walk away she wasn’t sure if she regretted the kiss, because as first _real_ kisses go - after all those boys didn’t count - it was kind of amazing.

“Emma. It's not like I have never been kissed at a party before. I reacted badly, I can admit to that. And you seem like a nice girl, you really do. But…”

“You aren't into girls like that?” Emma added helpfully, much in the same way Graham had done that night.

“I had a great time, Emma. Really. But I can’t be what you want me to be. I just can't,” Regina said in a tone Emma couldn't really decipher. But then again, she’d just met Regina and sometimes you have to know someone to be able to recognize what a certain tone of voice means.

“I don't think I actually expected you too. I acted like a fool. And if you'll let me, I'd like to get to know you better. Be your friend. Just your friend.” Emma smiled, but a little sadly. Right now, her heart might have been breaking just a little but in the end it would probably be worth it. 

“I think I would like that, Emma. I do enjoy your company,” Regina said. “I don't usually have the time to socialize much outside school. And it was nice.”

“I think it' a wonder you even have time to sleep with all the clubs and everything you are in charge of. You are a wonderful president, Madam Mills,” Emma said with a smile. “And thank you.”

“For what?”

“For not running away when you saw me, for giving me a chance to explain, for not freaking out over the whole ‘the gay kid has a crush on me’ thing.” 

“I would never. And I mean that Emma. I have worked hard to make sure this school is a safe place for everyone,” Regina said, and Emma could tell that this was something Regina was proud of. That Regina was proud of her position in school, and the amount of respect she was given because of it.

“I can tell that, and even if I didn't, I am pretty sure I have a small army protecting me at this point with my sister, Ruby and Graham.” Emma laughed, and for the first time since Friday, she actually felt like everything would be okay. 

“You know Graham?” The confusion was evident in Regina’s voice.

“Yeah, we met at the party. I guess we bonded, he helped me out a little,” Emma said, not wanting to say ‘he picked up the pieces after you left and I overreacted like the over emotional teenage girl I am’. 

“Oh.” 

“He’s nice. Actually, he’s _really_ nice. I wish there were more guys like him out there,” Emma said.

“Yes, he’s a wonderful guy,” Regina said, and Emma sensed that maybe there was a story there, but not for now. There had already been way too much emotion for this early on a Monday.

Emma looked at her watch, and realized that Graham could be walking in any minute. “I’m sorry, again.” 

“No worries.”

“Friends?” Emma asked as she held out her hand for Regina to shake. 

Regina shook Emma's hand, “Friends.”

Emma heard the sound of the door opening, and there was Graham, and as Emma turned around and looked into his eyes, she wasn’t sure what exactly gave it away, but she knew that he _knew_. And that was something she would have to deal with. Just not at this very moment. She had enough of her own feelings to sort out.

“Hi,” she said carefully, “I was just leaving so that you can do your presidential stuff. Bye Regina,” she said, before mouthing “later,” to Graham, and he smiled.

\--

“Hello!” Emma heard before she felt someone practically jump on her back.

“Seriously, Rubes? Do you have to scare the living daylight out of me every time you see me?”

“Yeah, it's so much fun,” Ruby smirked. “So how was the party? I’m so mad I couldn’t be there, but Grams took me to see my cousins in Brewer. Again.”

“It was...” Emma flashed back to the kiss, “boring,” she said instead. “But I did find out that there are in fact nice senior guys, and that there are still some boys my sister hasn’t dated.” Emma smiled.

“Guys? Seriously, Em?” Ruby groaned. “I wanted some juicy gossip from you, and you met a _guy_. You are such a lame lesbian!” 

Emma smacked Ruby’s shoulder, “Hey!” 

“What? It’s true. You haven’t been on a single date since you came out. I know I’m the scandalous one of us, but that doesn’t mean you should be this boring.” 

Ruby smiled, and Emma knew that her best friend just wanted her to enjoy life, and she wanted to as well. She wanted to date, wanted to try it out for real, with someone she could actually fall in love with. But all she could think about was Regina. No, she had to forget about her. The conversation still stuck in her mind, with the kiss looming behind it. There was something in the way Regina had talked to her that Emma couldn't quite put her finger on. There was something she wasn't telling her, but she had to let it go. She had to. They could be friends, but nothing more. Ever. It was time to move on. 

“Speaking of dating, I have been thinking about Sarah,” Emma said. It was better to jump in head first after all, right? And Ruby had after all been trying to set Emma up with her cousin since the day she came out. And it's not like she knew all that many lesbians she could just ask out. So Sarah seemed safe; she was older, didn't live in Storybrooke and had no connection what so ever to Regina. She would be perfect.

“Yes! Does this mean you’re up for going on a date with her?” Ruby asked, with a big smile. 

“Yeah. I mean, I think I’m ready to start dating now.” But as she said it, Emma remembered the feel of Regina’s lips on hers, and almost shuddered. No, she _had_ to forget her. 

“Brilliant. About time, too; I was afraid you’d be hung up on our dear president forever.” 

“No, even I know a lost cause.” Emma smiled, but it wasn’t an extremely genuine one. “So, call her, and set something up?”

“I will. I promise you Emma, you’ll like her. She’s just your type.”

“Hey, it’s worth a shot.” 

Ruby hugged her best friend, “Just trust me on this, okay? And if you want we could double date with Stefan?”

“Uh, no.” Emma smiled. “I think I want my first date with a girl to be just mine, okay?”

“If you say so,” Ruby conceded, “but I have to run. Mrs. Johnson wants to speak with me before class, something about my history paper not being especially historical.” Ruby smirked.

Emma just shook her head in exasperation. “Good luck.”

\--

The school day was over, and Emma couldn’t have been happier. The day had been an emotional roller coaster from start to finish. She couldn't get the conversation with Regina out of her head; she felt like she was missing something, probably important. And then, she had decided to take the chance and agree on going on a blind date with Ruby’s cousin. On top of that, she had to face the actual school part of Monday. Algebra, History, Physics, and Creative Writing. Emma hated Mondays for a reason, and this one had been particularly nasty.

Emma was thinking about what the hell she would write for her fairytale essay, when she heard someone walk up behind her.

“Walk you home?” Graham asked, as he walked up behind her. 

“Sure.” She answered.

“So, Regina huh?” Graham asked after they had walked for a while in a comfortable silence, “why didn’t you tell me it was her?”

“Because you two are friends, or something.” Emma said, “And I felt like I already betrayed her once that night. I didn’t need to do it twice. Besides, there was no point in telling you.” 

“But you talked it out with her? Or, was I seeing something completely different?” Graham asked

“We agreed to be friends, she agreed to forget my stupid mistake and just move on. But something was up with her, and I don't know what.” Emma said, a little sadness coming through. 

“That’s what you wanted right? To be friends?” Graham asked. “And don't worry about how she acted, I can guarantee that she wasn't freaked out. Regina’s not like that; she’s just… complicated, and closed off. ”

“Well, it’s better than the alternative, I think. Being just friends, I mean.” Emma sighed. “I just... I don’t know. Didn’t expect it to hurt like this.”

Graham stopped, so that he could wrap his arms around Emma. She didn’t quite return the embrace, but she didn’t push him away either. “It always hurts, Em,” he told her. “Not getting what you really want? It always hurts.” 

“It seems like you speak from experience,” Emma said, not really wanting to pry.

“Let’s just say that yours isn’t the only heart Regina Mills has broken.” 

Emma wasn’t sure if she was surprised or not at the confession-- probably not. She had realized that there was something there when she told Regina she knew Graham, and she knew that this was probably a long and possibly complicated story, and she decided she didn’t really need to know it.

“Sorry,” she settled on. That was simple and didn’t really demand any more information. 

“Well, I guess we have something in common now. Our impeccable taste in women.” Graham laughed, and Emma was relieved. The tension dissipated.

“Look, you’re a good guy, Graham. I’m sure the girls are lining up to be with you.” 

Graham chuckled. “Yeah, not really.” 

“Well, they should be,” Emma countered. “I just met you a couple of days ago, and yet you are acting like the older brother I used to wish for when I was smaller. Looking after me.” Emma clapped him on the shoulder. “Any girl would be lucky to have you.”

“Thanks, Emma. That’s nice of you to say.” 

“Well, thanks for walking me home,” Emma said, when they finally reached her house, “and for everything else as well.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pretty please leave a comment :)


	7. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for Emma's big date :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual I own nothing, and a huge thanks to my beta for helping me with everything.

The restaurant was stuffy and incredibly formal, and Emma hadn’t felt so out of place since she was first adopted. White linen, men in suits and women in incredible evening gowns. Emma looked down at her own red dress; it was pretty but nothing extravagant, and Emma felt somewhat under-dressed and uncomfortable. 

“Hi. Emma right?” Emma heard behind her, and turned around to see a beautiful brunette woman who, much to Emma’s surprise, didn’t look much like Ruby at all. 

“Sarah?” Emma asked carefully, in case she was wrong.

“Hi.” She stretched out her hand for Emma to shake. “I hope this place is alright.”

“Yeah. I mean, it’s wonderful,” Emma lied; to be honest, this whole thing was a little bit much for a first date. When her previous boyfriends had taken her out on dates, even a first one, it’d meant Taco Bell and maybe a movie or a game. Certainly not white linen and evening gowns. Emma was pretty glad she had opted for the dress. 

Sarah talked to a server, and then they were seated in a very cozy part of the restaurant, with a brilliant view over the town. 

“So, Emma,” Sarah said, “Have you decided where you want to go to college yet?”

“No, I haven’t even planned as far as to which courses I want to take next year,” Emma said, not entirely pleased with the direction of the conversation. The future scared her. It had taken her so long to even find one place to call home. The idea of having to leave Storybrooke made her want to curl up in a ball and cry.

“Don’t worry, you’ll figure it out soon enough. I had no idea what I wanted to do when I was your age either, and now I couldn’t imagine studying anything but international law.” Sarah smiled brightly at her, and Emma suddenly got the feeling that the age gap was a lot larger than she’d thought, and she felt even more out of place than before. 

“Maybe. I don’t know,” Emma said. “I just don’t like the idea of having to go anywhere but home.”

“Why? Most kids can’t wait to move out.” Emma shifted uncomfortable in her seat, wishing that she had gone on a date with someone she knew a little better. There’s definitely a reason why they say the best relationships begin as friendships, she thinks. 

The truth was that Emma couldn't see herself ever leaving Storybrooke. Here, she finally felt safe and at home. Emma knew she still had a couple of years to make up her mind, but leaving Storybrooke seemed impossible, even if it meant her career options would be limited to nurse and deputy as they seemed to be the only career paths offered in town. 

“I don’t know. I like it here,” she answered simply. Emma just couldn’t bring herself to tell Sarah the real truth; she had just barely met the woman and she was expected to tell her whole life story? She never did that—well, except with Regina. ‘No’, Emma told herself, ‘Don’t think about her now. Don’t.’

The server came to take their orders, thankfully halting the conversation.

“I’ll have the chicken pasta and some still water,” Emma said, and smiled to the waiter. He was an older, but good looking man.

Sarah added, “I’ll have a salmon salad and a lemon ice tea.”

After the waiter left, an uncomfortable silence began, and Emma was seriously doubting if this was such a good idea after all. 

When the waiter arrived with their drinks, Emma was glad for the distraction, “Thanks.”

“Emma, is this your first date?” Sarah asked carefully after what in Emma's mind felt like an eternity but was probably more like 5 minutes at the most. “It's just that you seem a little out of sorts.”

“I thought Ruby had told you?” Emma blushed. “I mean... I have been on dates before, but…”

“With guys,” Sarah finished her sentence and smirked. “Hey, it's nothing to worry about. We all have to start somewhere.”

“It's just, I don't know. Strange, I guess.” Emma took a sip of her water.

“Don't worry. We'll play it by ear and if nothing happens, then nothing happens. I remember my first.” Sarah laughed, “Date, that is, though I remember that other first to..” 

Emma looked up, curious. “How was it? The date, I mean.” 

“Confusing, liberating, wonderful. Her name was Ainsley, and she was absolutely stunning. She was a couple of years older than me, and she seemed so much more mature than me. She really wasn't, she hadn't had a serious girlfriend either it turned out, and we just talked.” 

“Sounds great.” Emma smiled, suddenly feeling a little better and somewhat more secure. The conversation continued to flow as their date progressed, but never really going deeper than the college question Sarah had opened with. 

Emma liked her, but she was pretty sure she didn't _like_ her. As the conversation continued it became clearer that they didn't really have all that much in common other than the fact that they both liked girls. Sarah had a couple of great stories that made Emma less freaked out about the entire prospect of dating girls, and of being gay.

As the night came to an end, Sarah paid for the meal. 

“You don't have to. We can split it,” Emma offered.

“No, it's your first date. Let me be the gentlewoman this time.” She took Emma gently by the arm, and they walked out the door.

“Goodnight, Emma,” Sarah said, and leaned in to give her a soft kiss, taking Emma totally by surprise. 

“Sarah, I...” Emma started. 

“I get it, Emma, don’t worry,” Sarah dismissed, still smiling.

Emma raised an eyebrow. “Feel what?”

“The lack of spark. I just wanted your first date to end with a kiss.” Sarah hugged Emma. “I had a great night. But sometimes you just don't feel that spark. Call me, though, if you ever want to talk about something. If there’s anything you’re unsure about.”

Emma stepped back from the embrace and ran a hand through her hair. “Thank you. For everything, I mean. I had a great night too,” Emma said, as she got into her car. Sarah waved her goodbye, and she drove home.

-

Emma unlocked the front door and walked in, not entirely surprised to see Mary Margaret sitting on the couch watching what Emma was sure was some sort of rom-com, most likely starring Rachel McAdams. 

“You home already?” Mary Margaret asked as Emma stepped into the living room. “How was it?”

“Fine,” Emma said, as she sat next down to Mary Margaret, “She was nice, but there just weren't any sparks.”

“Aw, I'm sorry, Em.” Mary Margaret patted her on the leg. “I know you totally hoped for some sort of epic romance starting tonight.”

Emma snorted. “I'm not you, but… I guess I hoped for something more.” And she had, she had hoped for something that would take Regina off her mind, and turn her attentions to someone else. Someone more available, someone less… _straight_.

“Wanna watch this movie with me? Or maybe something else, I know the lesbian one with that Game of Thrones lady is in the DVD case under the TV.»

The suggestion made Emma smile; after she had come out, a stack of DVDs with lesbian plots had suddenly started randomly showing up in the house, and Emma now owned practically everything from ‘Bound’ to ‘DEBS’. Ruby had also given her the entire box set of the L Word, of which Emma had watched the pilot before hiding the entire set from her father in fear that he would watch it to ‘learn more about Emma’, which is the reason why he’d watched the entire series of ‘South of Nowhere’ with her. 

Emma also possessed the entire coming out story of Bianca Montgomery on ‘All My Children’ on DVD. She wasn't fully sure how they had ended up in her bedroom, but she had the suspicion that they had once been on tape and belonged to Eva, and her father had converted them for her. 

Emma loved her family, and how supportive they were, even if they sometimes showed it in the strangest ways.

“No, that's fine,” Emma declined. “I'll just watch this with you,” she said, and then watched as Ryan _Gross-_ ling was proclaiming his love, and Emma realized she had been dead right about her sister's choice of movie that night. Despite her sister’s awful taste in guys, she was indeed a hopeless romantic. And for some reason had an affinity for movies starring Rachel McAdams that Emma never quite understood.

“So, where did Sarah take you?” Mary Margaret asked as the credits rolled of the movie, and she wiped any tears away from her cheeks.

“Didn't I tell you? She took me to that fancy place on Hope.”

“Really? For a first date? No wonder there weren't any sparks, we could barely drag you there for dad's 40th birthday party,” Mary Margaret teased.

“Oh, come on. I was 14, and the idea of putting on a nice dress and eating fancy food was like torture to me. But you’re right. We really didn't have anything in common. She’s all grown up, and mature. And I’m, well, me. Our interests didn't really align.”

“Was she pretty, at least?”

“Drop dead gorgeous,” Emma laughed. “So, really, it was too bad we didn't connect. We would have looked _so_ hot together,” she said with a mischievous grin.

“Good lord, you are so full of yourself sometimes,” Mary Margaret groaned, before tackling her now squealing sister into a hug.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, for not updating last week. I just started a new major at college and it's kicking my butt. Also I am experiencing a major case of writers block. I mean, I know where I am going, but I having trouble getting there. Don't worry though, I will finish this fic, it won't be abandoned, but I might end up making biweekly updates instead of weekly.


	8. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God, I am sorry for this being so late. I wish I had a good reason but the only reason I have is that this story have decided it wanted to go it's own way. Originally I was looking at 10 chapters for the first story, now I am pretty sure I am looking at the double.

“Have you given any more thought about asking Regina about a GSA?” Mary Margaret asked Emma as they got out of her car.

“Why are you so keen on me doing this? And you keep acting as if all I need is for Regina to say yes. Don't I need Simpson’s approval and a teacher guide-person?”

“I already talked to Simpson, and Mrs Montgomery agreed to be the faculty supervisor. All you need is to ask Regina for permission and a spot on the council.” Mary Margaret smirked at her sister, and Emma got the sudden overwhelming urge to hit her, but she controlled herself.

“If you want this club so bad, why don't you just head it?”

“Because I already have a soccer scholarship to Thomas College, and the only extra curricular activity you've ever taken part in was when Simpson forced you and Ruby to fix up the gym after you two broke all the windows. So if you want to get in anywhere, you are going to need something else on your transcript.”

Emma knew her sister was right; even if she was pretty sure she didn't want to leave Storybrooke right now, she might end up changing her mind, and it’d be nice to have options if she decided she wanted them. Her sister had been scouted for a bunch of schools last summer at the showcase, but had decided on Thomas because while she loved soccer, it wasn't what she wanted to spend the rest of her life doing. Thomas was both close to home and had a pretty good program for elementary education degrees.

“Whatever. And Simpson couldn't even prove it was me and Ruby who did it. Just because some kid told on us,” Emma said, despite the fact that the whole school knew it was her and Ruby who ‘accidentally’ broke all the windows in gym so they wouldn't have to play dodge ball.

“If you say so, Em.” Mary Margaret smiled. “But seriously, you need something else on your transcript. And before you say that it's forever until you are graduating, you need to start thinking about it now. And I think a GSA is a really good idea. This town is small, and people might need a place like that to feel safe, and I know you think so too or else we wouldn't even be talking about it.”

And again, Mary Margaret was right, as she so very often was. Emma was pretty sure there were people at this school that were deeply closeted, and while her experience had so far been pretty painless, something like a GSA could be great, if only to raise some awareness. And it would be another excuse to spend more time with Regina, and Graham as well, who had become a very positive thing in her life.

“You're right,” Emma conceded. “I’ll go talk to Regina now. Do you have soccer practice?”

“Yeah. I'll see you after school?” Mary Margaret asked

“No, I think I have plans with Ruby. But I'll see you at home,” Emma said. “Bye.”

Emma walked inside the school, heading towards the student council room. She had spoken to Regina a couple of times since their agreement to be friends, but mostly just because Emma had been looking for Graham and happened to run into Regina as well.  So, while they had a friendship, it was very tentative.

But it wasn’t as if this was social call. She just wanted to start a new group. But the truth was that Regina did in fact still make her nervous. There was something about that girl that just put her on edge, and Emma could only hope that it would pass, or at the very least get easier to manage.

Emma walked up to the student council door and knocked. Usually she would’ve just walked in, but she was here on business, so she tried to be professional.

“Come in.”

Emma opened the door. “Hi.”

“Are you looking for Graham? He isn’t here yet.” Regina said with a small smile that turned Emma’s nerves into butterflies. Emma wondered if Regina had any idea of the power she had.

“No, actually. I’m looking for you.” Emma said, “I mean, I’m here on student council business.”

“Oh, okay.” Regina replied, appearing somewhat startled. “What is it you want to talk about?”

“I want to start a GSA,” Emma blurted out. Maybe professional wasn’t exactly her style after all.

“A GSA?” Regina asked, confused. “What is that?”

Emma blushed. “It stands for a Gay-Straight Alliance. I think it would be a good idea for this school to have a club that deals with issues that gay students might have, but that doesn’t exclude the straight people. To have a community.  A safe place for the students who maybe are unsure about who they are.”

“Do you feel like you would have had it easier if you had a place like this?” Regina asked. The question wasn’t intrusive, and Emma knew that Regina honestly wondered about it. Emma could tell that Regina cared about the students, to a degree that Emma believed was unique.

“I’m lucky. I never needed a safe place,” Emma answered honestly. “I had my safe place, but I know there are students at this school that are scared for various reasons to come out. And the good thing about the GSA, is that it does include straight people, so that you don’t ‘out’ yourself by joining. Or if you are just curious.”

Regina nodded. “Well, I told you when we had our talk that I want to make this school a place where everyone could feel safe, and included. And I see no reason why we shouldn’t have a GSA. I’m actually a little surprised we don’t have a club aimed towards the gay students,” Regina said. “I assume you have talked to Simpson, and he gave the okay?”

“Yeah. Well… Mary Margaret did,” Emma admitted. “But he did give the okay, and Mrs Montgomery has agreed to be the teacher representative for the group. So I only need you to give me a spot on the council and give the green light for starting up.”

“Your sister, huh?” Regina said, with a small smirk. “She is a force to be reckoned with, isn’t she?”

“Yeah. I’ve never met a person who’s been able to say no to her. And it was kind of her idea, this whole thing. I think she wanted my transcript to look better.”

Regina laughed a little, then asked, “But you would be the club leader, right? Not your sister?”

“Yeah, I actually want to do it.” Emma smiled. “And that is kind of a new feeling for me.”

“I’m glad,” Regina said, and walked over to the desk on the other side of the room and pulled out some paperwork. “So this is the boring part,” she explained. “You just need to fill these out. I would advise you to talk with Mrs Montgomery and have her help you, as she has done this before, and just give it back to me by the end of the day tomorrow.”

“Thanks.” Emma took the paper from Regina just as the door opened.

“Hey, Em. What are you doing here?” Graham asked.

“Oh, just starting a club.” Emma smiled at him. “I am becoming a responsible adult, with responsibilities, and… adult stuff.”

“Really?” Graham said, eyebrows raised. “And how long did it take for your sister to convince you to do that?”

“I hate you,” Emma said, and punched Graham’s shoulder. “I really do.”

“No you don’t.” Graham teased, “You loooooove me.”

“I am starting to realize why the two of you have become such fast friends,” Regina said dryly. “You have an awful lot in common.”

“No, we don’t.” Emma and Graham said in union, causing Regina to roll her eyes.

“No, not at all,” Regina answered, “obviously.”

Graham just grinned at Regina, before gesturing to the couch in the corner, “Come, Emma, join me on this glorious couch and tell me all about your club,” he said with a kind of adorable fake grandeur.

So Emma and Graham sat down on the couch, before Graham turned towards Regina. “I do have time to just talk with Emma for a while, right?” he confirmed. “The budget meeting with Simpson isn’t until 9?”

“Yes, you have time to just ‘hang’, as you would put it,” Regina said somewhat sarcastically. “I will just sit over here and go over the latest revisions to the budget without you.”

“Come on Regina, you know that if you want it to make sense you have to do it yourself. Me and numbers are like oil and water,” Graham joked.

“Don’t you have class, Emma?” Regina asked.

“No, not yet. I don’t start until 9 today; I have a half period now.” Emma answered. “But I’m not disturbing you or anything? I could always leave and watch Mary Margaret play soccer or something.”

“No, Graham is actually right,” Regina admitted. “He’s been my vice since I first got elected president in sophomore year and over that time I have learned that he cannot do budgets. At all. So just stay. At least that would keep Graham from hovering.”

Regina smiled at Emma, before settling in behind the desk. Graham turned to Emma and asked, “So what sort of club are you starting?”

“A GSA.” Emma smiled, “It was actually MM’s idea, but I am actually really excited about it.”

“I think that’s great, Emma, I really do.” Graham smiled. “I think you would do great in a club like that.”

“Thank you.  I just think our school needs a club like this. Somewhere safe.” Emma shrugged. “I mean I have a great support system, but what if I didn’t?”

“I get that. You have a big heart, Emma.”

“Wow, don’t get all mushy on me now,” Emma said, and laughed. “But thanks. I’m kinda scared to be a ‘leader’ though. I’ve always been… in the background.”

“I’m not going to get mushy on you, I promise. And I haven’t even known you that long. But I get the feeling you are capable of more than you like to admit.  And hey, who’s your adviser?”

“It’s Mrs Montgomery. And, I’m still a little nervous though, but maybe you’re right.”

“Mrs M is great though, I’ve had her in both English and History for years,” Graham assured her. “She was the adviser for the very, _very_ short lived classic British lit club we had last year. She’s very kind, and supportive. It’s pretty obvious that she cares about her students.”

“Yeah, she’s been very kind and understanding so far. I like her.” Emma smiled. “I am glad she agreed to do this.”

There was a knock on the door, before Ruby’s head went popping into the room. “Emma, you _are_ here. I thought Mary Margaret was joking!”

Emma just shook her head. “Come in, Red.  They don’t bite,” she promised, gesturing to Regina and Graham.

“Are you sure about that?” Regina drawled from behind the desk, barely lifting her head.

“Don’t scare the poor girl, Regina,” Graham scolded. “You’re intimidating enough as it is. You don’t need a rumour going around about you biting poor sophomores now, do you?”

“Just come in, Ruby,” Regina said before returning her attention to the budget suggestions.

Ruby walked in the room, and pulled out a chair and sat down. Ruby always had the ability to make every room into her own, and feel at home in it.

“Actually, I was just wondering if you were going to the Disney Marathon at The Box tonight,” Ruby said to Emma.

“Oh yeah, of course!” Emma replied. “I haven’t missed a single one of them since they started.” The reminder brightened Emma’s mood further; she loved Disney movies. The happy endings, and the life lessons. They’d always made her happy.

“Is Mary Margaret coming with you?” Ruby asked, “Or is she still mad about last time?”

“She’s still mad. I don’t think I can drag her along with me for a while. I mean, really, how was I supposed to know they were going to screen ‘Snow White’?”

Ruby just laughed at the memory.

“What does your sister have against that movie?” Graham asked. “Is it the…”

“Dead parents thing?” Emma supplied. “No, not at all.  If that was the problem she could hardly watch any Disney movie,” she joked.

“So what is it?”

“The dwarfs. My brave, courageous sister is scared to death of the Seven Dwarfs.” Emma smirked. “I don’t know why. I assume something happened when she was a kid. But she is deathly afraid of them, and she refused to talk to me for days after the last time they screened it.”

“I’m pretty sure they aren’t screening it tonight, I think it’s one of the Renaissance ones. Hopefully Beauty and The Beast, it’s my favourite,” Ruby said.

“Do you want to come?” Emma asked Graham and Regina.

“Sure, I haven’t been to one of those in years. It could be fun,” Graham admitted. “I always had such a good time at them when I was a kid.”

“How about you, Regina?” Emma asked, trying to keep the hope from showing in her voice. “It should be fun, and I’m sure you could use some of that.”

“I don’t know,” Regina said. “My mother… she doesn’t really like me doing social things during the week.”

“Come on, Regina,” Graham pleaded. “You can tell her we’re having a study group, or planning the Halloween Bash, or something. Emma is right, you could do with some fun in your life. We used to do stuff like that all the time when we were younger, before…” Graham stopped mid-sentence as if he realized he was about to say something personal that maybe he shouldn’t share.

“Before things got so serious,” Regina finished the sentence, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. “And I suppose you’re right. I haven’t been to see any movie in such a long while. And maybe it would be nice to get out.”

“Cool,” Emma said. “Let’s meet outside the Box at five. Come on, Red. It’s history time.”

Emma grabbed her best friend’s hand and practically dragged her out the door, but not before turning to Regina and saying, “Thank you for the help with everything. I’m looking forward tonight.”


	9. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for the big movie "date". How will Emma react to spending time with Regina outside of school again?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You all know the drill by now :)

Emma was nervous, and she wasn’t even sure why. It wasn’t as if this was actually a date. She was just hanging out with Regina outside of school for the first time since Mary Margaret’s birthday party. It was no big deal, right? And Graham and Ruby were going to be here too, right?

Where were they, actually? Emma looked down at her watch; it was five to five, so they did still have time…

“Emma?” she heard her name from behind her, and she turned around to see Regina.

“Hi! You made it.” Emma smiled. “Any problems at home?”

“No,” Regina said, “My mother had to go to New York and deal with some issues in the New York branch of the company.”

“The company? I thought your mother was a lawyer?” Emma asked.

“She is, technically. But ever since…” Regina paused. “For the last couple of years, she has been CEO of my dad’s company. Apparently my grandfather thought my mother more competent.” The last part was laced with a slight disgust that confused Emma.

Emma was about to ask when her phone beeped.

“Crap,” Emma said after reading the text, “Ruby won’t be able to make the first movie; she had to take an extra shift at the diner. Hopefully she’ll make it to the second one.”

“So it seems it’s just you and me then,” Regina said, and noticing Emma’s confusion, explained, “Graham cancelled as well, his pregnant sister is moving back with her husband so he’s busy with family things.”

“I didn’t even know Graham had a sister,” Emma confessed. “Is she a lot older?”

“8 years, they have different fathers. They’re very close, though.”

There was a pause in the conversation, and Emma swallowed before asking nervously, “So… are you okay with it just being us? At least for a while? I mean, I promise I’ll behave and everything but if you’re uncomfortable being here with me alone…”

“As long as you promise not to make out with me during ‘Can You Feel The Love Tonight’ I think we’ll be fine,” Regina joked, and Emma sighed in relief.  “I mean, we _are_ friends, and not just when we have a buffer, right?”

“Wait, how did you know the first movie was Lion King?” Emma asked, “And I promise.  However, I can’t promise I won’t sing along.”

“I called and asked,” Regina admitted. “I needed to know if I’d need to bring tissues.”

“Tissues?”

“Yes.” Regina blushed a little. “I’m… unable to watch certain Disney movies without crying. The Lion King happens to be one of them.”

“Mufasa?” Emma asked.

“Mufasa.” Regina confirmed, and grinned.

“You know, I think the renaissance era is my favorite in Disney,” Emma said, as way to keep the conversation flowing.

“I’m afraid I don’t know which eras the movies belong to, I just know them as the movies I used to watch with my father when mother was away at law school,” Regina admitted. “It was our own personal time.”

“Where is your dad?” Emma asked. “It’s just that you talk about him like he isn’t here…” Emma added when she saw the confused look on Regina’s face. “I’m sorry, I probably shouldn’t have asked.  It’s none of my business.  I have a tendency to do this. Butt into people’s lives. Which is probably really unfair since I usually refuse to talk about myself.”

“It’s fine. It’s not really a big secret,” Regina began, slightly unsure. “My dad spends most of his time in Europe and Asia, overseeing those branches of the business. He only comes home maybe two or three times a year.”

“Oh,” Emma said, “That sucks. I shouldn’t have asked. Sorry.”

“I said it was fine, Emma,” Regina said, a little curt.

Emma had a feeling there was more to the story, maybe a lot more, but she realized that Regina was a lot like herself. She didn’t often share; instead, she bottled things up. Emma had gotten better since she was adopted, finding it easier to open up to her sister, her father and Ruby. Emma wondered if Regina had anyone like that. Emma could tell she missed her father, and from the little she heard from Graham about Regina’s mother…

“Do you want popcorn?” Emma asked instead of prodding further. “Let’s go inside and buy the tickets and snacks…”

Emma walked into the theatre and Regina followed inside. The Box was a really old theatre that had been built during the Golden Days of film, and was now one of those places that didn’t show movies made after 2000. The specialized in showing old movies, and Disney Marathons, making it the perfect spot for film buffs, families with young children, and teenagers that usually just wanted to make out at the back of the theatre.

“God, I love this place,” Emma said as they entered. “I love the feel, the colors, the pictures of the old movie stars… It feels like going back in time.”

“I wouldn’t have figured you for that type of girl,” Regina said. “I thought you were more top 20 and CGI.”

“Not gonna lie, I do like a good action movie filled with special effects and a snappy soundtrack, but there’s something about this place that intrigues me. It surprised me the first time dad took us here.  I can’t even explain how I felt.” Emma said, kind of dreamily, and pretty sure she’d be embarrassed about this later. “I just really like this place. It’s not even about the movies. Sure, I think I’ve seen the Maltese Falcon every time they showed it, but it’s not really about the movie but the...”

“Atmosphere,” Regina suggested.

“Yeah!” Emma smiled. “Also, there’s usually only me, the film club from school and some of the more elderly citizens of Storybrooke. It’s a nice place to come alone.”

“You do that often?” Regina asked.

“Yeah… You’ve probably noticed that outside of Ruby, you and Graham, I don’t have that many friends, especially not since Ashley moved. I can’t really do friends.” Emma stopped, and looked at Regina. “I feel crowed sometimes, even just at home with dad and MM, so I come here, sit in a dark room and watch an old movie. Sometimes it’s Citizen Kane, other times it’s Mary-Kate and Ashley’s adventures in Australia,” Emma said with a chuckle. “But it doesn’t really matter what movie it is, because it’s my time. And I guess I need that.”

“I think I can understand that,” Regina said. “I suppose that’s why I ride. To have the time where all I need to think about is Rocinante.”

“Is that your horse?” Emma asked curiously. She had no idea that Regina was a rider. I mean, she knew that the Mills mansion had a stable, but she never really figured that Regina would be a horse girl. Now however, it made perfect sense. What is more regal than riding? And Regina was the most regal person Emma knew.

“I have had him since he was just a baby. He was a birthday present from my father.” Regina smiled at the memory. “I guess in many ways he is my oldest friend.”

“I’d like to meet him sometime,” Emma said. “I mean, I’m not a rider or anything and in all honesty horses kind of scare me.” Regina laughed, and Emma argued, “Come on, they’re so… big! And scary.”

“He is the most kind and wonderful animal I have ever encountered,” Regina said with a proud tone. “And he is just _mine._ ”

“That’s cool,” Emma said, cringing slightly inwards for her choice of words. What was she, 12? “I mean, it takes a great deal of responsibility. And as we all know, that is not really my strong suit,” Emma added jokingly.

“I think you are capable of more than you know, Emma,” Regina said, in a sober tone. “I am sure your sister, your father and Graham have told you several times. But it’s true. I know we are just beginning this… friendship, but I can already see that you are stronger than you think.” Regina looked at Emma, and smiled.

This was one of those moments that scared Emma to death; when Regina looked at her, and it felt like she knew her better than anyone else ever had. It was part of why Regina was so attractive to her. It wasn’t just her wonderful dark hair or those eyes, no. It was the way she looked into her and Emma could feel it. She had felt it in her bedroom that night; she had even felt it at totally random moments when they were hanging out with Graham.

“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” Regina said, and it snapped Emma out of her thoughts.

“You didn’t.” Emma smiled. “I promise. I just… I don’t know. There is something about you, Regina Mills.”

“So, popcorn?” Regina asked, and Emma took the cue to change the conversation again.

“Always.” Emma grinned. “I mean, who doesn’t love popcorn.”

“I have no idea.” Regina smiled back, “God, it’s been such a long time since I’ve been to a movie.”

“Really? What was the last movie you saw?” Emma asked.

“I don’t even remember,” Regina said honestly. “Graham took me. I think I fell asleep half way through.”

Emma laughed, and the conversation fell quiet as they got their snacks and soda. The Box had these sofa areas where you could wait for the movie to start so they sat down on one of those.

“How long until the movie starts?” Regina asked as they sat down.

“About ten minutes,” Emma answered, and the two of them fell into another comfortable silence.

“Thank you for inviting me.” Regina said after a little while. “As I said, it’s been a while since anyone have invited me out somewhere. I know Graham wants to, but ever since we….” Regina trailed off.

“Broke up?” Emma asked. “Graham mentioned something…”

“I am surprised he said anything. Most of the time we pretend it never happened. I think it’s easier for him. For me too, I guess,” Regina said. “We dated for a while, but I couldn’t… I don’t know. I couldn’t be what he needed, I guess.”

“You don’t need to tell me this; it’s none of my business.”

“It’s fine. I just… I just haven’t talked to anyone about it. Even to Graham, really.”

“So what happened?” Emma asked, now curious.

“As I said, I just couldn’t be what he wanted. I mean, I love him. He is my best friend, but he wanted more than I could give. He deserved more.”

“I get that.” Emma said. “I’m not saying that my experiences with guys are the same as yours with Graham. Obviously not, but I wanted so desperately to be something I wasn’t…” Emma bravely reached out and took Regina’s hand, “I don’t know why you felt like you couldn’t be what he wanted. And I don’t need to know. All I need you to know is that if you ever feel like talking about it with someone, I’m here. I will always be here.”

“Thank you,” Regina said, looking into Emma’s eyes with such intensity that Emma shivered, and squeezed Emma’s hand.

“Come on. They’ve opened the doors,” Emma said, pulling her hand away and trying to keep her voice steady, and the two girls walked into the movie theatre.


	10. Chapter 9

Emma and Ruby were sitting on the couch in the student council room, waiting for Graham and Regina to finish doing whatever they were doing that day.  It had become pretty much a daily routine in the two weeks since their movie date – well, whatever it was.  She and Ruby would end up in that room after they were done with whatever they had after school; for Emma that meant GSA meetings twice a week, and Ruby ran track as well. 

Every now and again Mary Margaret would show up too, but she was usually too busy with tutoring, soccer or James.

Emma leaned back into the couch, waiting impatiently for something to happen, and stared up into the ceiling as a way to keep herself from staring at Regina. She had been trying really hard not to make this friendship awkward, and after the initial weirdness between them at the movies, they’d had a much better friendship. But Emma’s feelings were still frustratingly present. She’d tried to make them go away, but the more she got to know Regina, the more she wanted to be with her.

“Did you hear Fiona and Katie broke up?” Ruby’s voice brought Emma back to reality.

“Really?” Emma asked, shocked. “You mean for real this time, not like those two-day breaks they have…”

“No, it’s for real. I heard Katie’s even seeing someone else,” Ruby added. “It seems like our lesbian golden couple is finished for good.”

“Woah. I really thought they would be together forever. You know, go to college together, get married, have a couple of kids, the whole deal.”

“We all did, I think,” Ruby agreed, “but I guess they’re just like the rest of us after all.”

Emma turned to Graham and Regina. “Are you two gonna be done soon? I’m getting hungry, and I want pizza.”

“Of course you do,” Graham said with a laugh. “You always want pizza.”

“And we are still waiting for Jessica Pearson,” Regina pointed out, “who was supposed to be here almost half an hour ago.  She has never been this late...”

“Yeah, about that,” Ruby said, and Regina turned to her. “I think you’ll have to wait a while if you’re expecting her to show up.” Ruby wore a bit too much of a smirk for Emma’s taste. It usually meant Ruby knew something, and Emma hated when Ruby knew stuff she didn’t.

“Why?” Regina asked wearily.

“It seems our little miss perfect was caught stealing the answers to the History quiz. Looks like her 4.0 GPA wasn’t achieved by good old fashioned study after all. If my information is correct - which, let’s face it, it usually is - Simpson expelled her, and she isn’t coming back.”

“You seem far too happy about that,” Graham said.

“Ruby has hated her since she ‘stole her boyfriend’,” Emma explained, rolling her eyes. “Despite that fact that they had barely kissed. And she didn’t even really like him.”

“Oh, shut up, Emma.”

“What?” Emma asked innocently. “Come on, you know it’s true.”

“Fine, whatever, it’s totally true. Why were you waiting on her anyway?” Ruby directed the last part at Regina.

“She was _supposed_ to be the leader of the Snow Ball committee, and that committee was only the three of us. Apparently party planning isn’t what most people at Storybrooke High consider fun,” Regina answered, somewhat sarcastically.

“But the Snow Ball isn’t for _months,_ ” Emma exclaimed. “Why are you thinking about that already? What about the Halloween Bash?”

“Because, _Miss Swan-Blanchard_ ,” Regina began, in that tone that Emma loved, slightly playful but still somewhat annoyed, the kind of tone only Regina was able to pull off. “We need to plan it, fund it, choose a theme, a band, decorations have to be made... It takes time to pull off a dance successfully. And it takes people. Something this school doesn’t seem to grasp. Sure, they love to _go_ to dances, but planning it? No. We’ve had the Halloween Bash worked out since the semester began, especially since it is _next_ Friday. Besides, Halloween Bashes are so much easier. We have a theme, and the Rumbling Dingoes are playing, and—”

“Emma and I can help,” Ruby interrupted. “I mean, with the Snow Ball. We’re here practically all the time anyway. I know it’s only for seniors and juniors and that we’re only sophomores, but come on…”

“Knowing you, Ruby, you’ll be dating a senior or a junior by Christmas,” Emma teased. “I mean, you said you were over dating younger boys, right?”

 “You can be so mean sometimes,” Ruby faked cried and stuck out her tongue at Emma.

“But Ruby has a point.” Emma looked at Regina, and despite hanging out with her practically every day for the past two weeks, she still felt those damn butterflies in her stomach. “We’re here. We’re _always_ here.  Besides, party committee will look great on my transcript.” Emma added that last part with such sarcasm; it made both Regina and Graham laugh.

“Are you sure about this, Emma?” Graham asked. “Regina isn’t kidding; it’s a lot of work. Especially if no one else turns up. I thought Regina would strangle me last year when we were planning the junior prom…”

“He is exaggerating,” Regina interjected, but Emma could see Graham shaking his head in the background, causing Emma to laugh.

“Well, it has to be better than just sitting on the couch, and having Ruby braid my hair,” Emma teased again.

“Oh, come on, Em. I braided your hair _once_ ,” Ruby said. “And you looked really pretty afterwards.”

“I’m always pretty,” Emma said with a grin. “I am a natural beauty.”

And at that Ruby burst out in laughter, and before long the other three joined in. When the laughter died down Emma said, “So what do we need to do, your majesty?”

“Majesty?” Regina asked. “Last I checked this school isn’t a monarchy.”

“It fits you,” Emma just said and smiled at Regina. “You always seem so regal.”

Wait, was she flirting with Regina? No, Emma, she told herself, quit it. Flirting is not good. Flirting is bad, flirting is complicated. Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. Maybe if she continued telling herself that, she would eventually stop.

She sincerely doubted it, though. Flirting was such a big part of who Emma was; she never really meant anything by it. She just flirted, but somehow with Regina it was different. It had always been different with Regina, and Emma had the feeling that it probably always was going to be different with Regina.

“Please don’t say that to my mother...” was all Regina said, before adding, “First we need money. For the Snow Ball, I mean.”

“Can we sell raffle tickets at the Halloween Bash? Get some local businesses to sponsor us with some prizes?” Ruby suggested. “I’m sure Granny would be willing to donate, like, a week’s worth of pancakes or something.”

“If I didn’t already get those things practically for free because I have the bestest best friend ever, I would die for that prize,” Emma said. “What do you guys think? Good idea?”

“Yes, it’s a start. And especially if you two could get the sponsors,” Regina added with a smirk. “I mean, I have so much work to do here.”

“Fine. We’ll go begging for you,” Emma answered. “I’m going to get us the most awesome prizes you’ve ever seen.”

“You have an unhealthy competitive streak there, Em,” Graham said.

“There’s nothing unhealthy about wanting to win, Graham,” Emma said, “How else can I be better than everyone else?” She added that last part with a fake obnoxiousness and a smile.

“You never fail to surprise me, Emma,” Regina said with a smile. “I always thought you were such a mellow and well-rounded person.” The last part was added with a friendly amount of snark that had become very common in their conversations. It was never mean, only teasing. And Emma kind of liked it. It added something familiar to their conversations, something that in many ways was just _theirs._

“I’ll make sure she behaves, Regina. I promise,” Ruby said. “We’ll start tomorrow after school. There isn’t a GSA meeting tomorrow, right? And I have a rest day from track, too.”

Emma realized that it was more of a statement than a question, “Sure, Red. We’ll go sponsor hunting tomorrow.”

“Great,” Regina said. “We also held a Secret Santa thing last year that was reasonably successful, which if we start in early December and take perhaps a fee of $5 to get a Secret Santa, and to have one, we’ll have some extra cash. There’s also a small amount that I got Simpson to contribute to when we went over the Budget two weeks ago.”

“Can’t we also do a Battle of The Bands kind of thing?” Ruby suggested. “I know we have at least three or four local bands that I am sure would sign up. We could charge for the event and then the winning Band would get to perform at the Ball. It would solve two problems.”

“It’s a good idea, but someone would have to organize it and find a place and stuff...” Graham said. “Though I’m sure Simpson would let us use the Gym, he is usually pretty lenient with that stuff. And the AV club has all the equipment we need.”

“I suppose I could just tell Killian to organize it. He is usually quite good with band things. He just doesn’t care about balls and dances, or else I am sure he would be on this committee as well,” Regina added.

 “And he will say yes?” Emma asked, because she had never witnessed Karl “Killian” Jones do anything to do with student council ever.

Karl “Killian” Jones, uber-cool senior, was the lead singer of Rumbling Dingoes, and always had this attitude of being better than everything that went on at school, despite being super smart, and getting mostly A’s. He was however very into the music scene, and had the reputation of throwing the most kickass concert and band nights.

“You will learn that your sister isn’t the only person at this school that people have problem saying no to,” Regina said, and Emma got the feeling that the reasons why Regina usually got her will had little to do with her puppy eyes.

“For some reason, I don’t doubt that at all,” Emma said, and Regina just smirked, before adding, “Well then, that is sorted.”

“Does that mean we can go get pizza now?” Emma asked, hopeful. “I really want pizza.”

“Sure, Emma. We can go and have pizza,” Regina said. “We can pick up this on Thursday. We have nothing else planned for Thursday, right, Graham?”

“No, but there is the heads of the clubs meeting on Friday…”

“Crap, I had totally forgotten that. I need to talk to Mrs. Montgomery tomorrow to finish the report,” Emma said hastily, “but I totally have it under control.”

“Sure you do, Em,” Ruby said, and patted her on the back. “Sure you do.”

Graham looked down at his watch, “Damn, I can’t go get pizza with you. I have to get home, I promised Sasha I would help put together the crib.”

“Aren’t you such a great baby brother?” Emma said in a faux baby voice.

“Actually, I am,” Graham said, and smirked at Emma. “Better than you are anyway”.

“Only because I’m not a boy,” Emma teased. “But I guess we’ll just see you tomorrow?”

“Oh, before I forget. You guys are coming to my birthday party on Saturday, right?” He gestured to Emma and Ruby.

“Me?” Ruby asked, surprised, “Why?”

“Because you are cool, Ruby,” Graham said. “So, you in?”

“My first senior party? Yes, yes, yes. I’ll totally convince Granny into letting me go.” Ruby was all smiles. “I have been waiting for this moment my whole life.”

“How about you, Em?” Graham asked. “Your sister is coming.”

“Then I am in. Dad would never let me go alone, but for some reason he trusts her,” Emma joked. “No, but seriously. I would love to come. Are you going, Regina?”

“Yes, my parents aren’t home this weekend.”

“I promise to behave better than last time…” Emma said, and smiled sheepishly to both Regina and Graham.

“What happened last time?” Ruby asked, confused. “You told me nothing happened.”

“Nothing happened. I just acted… silly.” Emma said quickly and with a look that said drop it.

“If you say so…”

“Come on, let’s get that pizza,” Emma said, effectively ending the conversation as she took Ruby and Regina’s hands and dragged them out. “Bye, Graham.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY THIS IS SO LATE AFTER I PROMISED YOU GUYS THAT I WOULD UPDATE IF YOU GAVE ME LOVE, and you did. So much and it made me so happy. These last couple of weeks have been really rough on me, my grandmother died and I had a bunch of school stuff to do and all I really wanted to do was nothing. But I promise that things are better now, I am feeling better, hopefully I will get some more of this done soon. I am thinking about 6-7 more chapters in this story, and then the sequel. Also I know very many of you wanted to see more of the movie date, and I promise you that I have a plan and you will get what you signed on for but this will be a slow built.


	11. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for Graham's party and things get...intresting

“What in God’s name is taking you so long?” Emma shouted up the stairs to her sister. “You’ve been getting ready for ages. It’s not the Oscars, it’s a _birthday party._ ”

Emma started pacing around the room. She could never understand why it took her sister so long to get ready. Emma could not fathom how anyone could spend _two whole hours_ getting ready for something. She stopped in front of the hallway mirror and looked at herself; her hair was flowing free, and she was wearing a little makeup, a pair of new jeans she and Ruby had bought for the occasion, a black top and her favorite red leather jacket.

“I look good,” Emma told herself, “and it only took 40 minutes, including the shower.” She turned back to the stairs. “Come on, what _are_ you doing? Sewing your own dress?”

“Of course not,” Mary Margaret said as she _finally_ walked down the stairs, and Emma had to admit the two hours had been worth it, because her sister looked stunning in a dark purple strapless dress that showed off just about the right amount of skin.

“Whoa...” Emma said, “Fine, I get it now.”

“Whatever do you mean?” Mary Margaret asked with fake obliviousness.

“You need me to say it?” Emma asked sarcastically.

“Yes, please…”

“You look hot, okay?” Emma said, before sticking her tongue out of her mouth. “You look like you really want to impress someone…”

“Maybe I do,” Mary Margaret smirked, “or maybe I just wanted to outshine you.”

“Please don’t tell me it’s James. I can’t believe you are still dating that guy.”

“I like him, okay, Em?” Mary Margaret said, and Emma heard a kind of vulnerability in her sister’s voice that she hadn’t heard in a very long time. “It feels different this time. I can’t explain it.”

“I’m sorry,” Emma said, “I’ll try not to be such a bitch about him anymore. I just don’t trust him.”

“I know. And you have every reason not to. I didn’t either. First it was just… sex, I guess. But he’s actually kind of nice, and I think I might be falling for him. I don’t know. It just feels different.”

“Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever actually heard you talk about anyone like that. I promise I won’t be so hard on you from now on, but I’m your sister and I will _always_ look out for you. Okay?”

“Okay,” Mary Margaret said, and hugged her sister. But don’t we have a party to go to?”

“We do,” Emma said, as she broke the hug, took her sister’s hand and walked out the door.

\--

“Hey,” Emma greeted Graham as he opened the door, “Happy Birthday.”

“Thanks,” Graham said, and hugged her, before seeing Mary Margaret behind Emma.

“Damn, Mary Margaret you look _really_ good.” Graham grinned at the dark haired woman.

“Hey! What about me?” Emma asked with fake offense, “Don’t _I_ look fabulous _?”_

“Nah, you look like you always do,” Graham said.

“You are so mean,” Emma said, and punched his shoulder. “I don’t even understand why I’m friends with you.”

“I don’t either, especially if I could have been friends with your _gorgeous_ sister,” Graham said, and smiled again at Mary Margaret.

“Bleh,” Emma said, pretending to retch. “Please tell me Ruby or Regina are here, at least they know how to appreciate my beauty.”

“Ruby isn’t here yet, but our dear president is in the kitchen,” Graham said. “Setting up… something. I didn’t bother to ask.”

“This is your party, isn’t it?” Emma teased.

“You know her well enough to know she likes to have control.”

“Yeah, I know, but you really have no idea what she is doing in there?”

“No, I have no idea,” Graham said. “You should go say hi so I can enjoy your sister better without your ugly self disrupting my view.”

“I really hate you sometimes,” Emma said to Graham before turning to her sister. “I’ll see you later and _please_ don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“I wouldn’t even dream of it.” Mary Margaret said, and smiled in that mischievous way that made Emma worried what her sister actually had planned to do tonight.

As she walked towards the kitchen Emma heard her sister say, “She really cares about you, you know?”

“I know. I like her,” she caught Graham say, before the turned into the kitchen with a smile on her face. Graham had turned out to be a blessing she never would have expected, and for that she was grateful.

“Hi, Regina,” Emma said with a smile as she entered the kitchen, and Regina turned at the sound of her name.

“Hi, Emma,” Regina said, and Emma again found herself wondering how she managed to be not just someone Regina knows the name of, not just Mary Margaret’s little sister, but actually someone Regina would call her friend. And yes, despite the butterflies in her stomach, that was good enough, at least most of the time.

“What are you doing in here?” Emma asked. “You do know this isn’t _your_ party right?”

“Haha,” Regina said in a dull tone, “I’m just helping out. Trust me, if I had let Graham do as he pleased, we wouldn’t even have these fancy red cups,” she added with a smirk, and pointed to the stacks of cups.

“I think you spoil him, Regina,” Emma said, and laughed. “How will he ever learn to function without you?”

“He won’t,” Regina grinned, “He will forever be under my command.”

“So that’s your evil plan? To have control over the guy who can’t take his eyes of my sister’s breasts?”

“Well, it needs some ironing out,” Regina allowed. “Also, your sister’s cleavage can be quite distracting, or so I’ve heard.”

“So you yourself haven’t spent hours fantasizing about it?” Emma joked, before realizing how gross it sounded. “Eurgh, never mind. I really do not want to know.”

“I’ll have you know, that while I don’t mind your sister, her _breasts_ are not the reason why. She has other far more important _attributes._ ”

Emma could tell Regina was just teasing her, and it felt nice. Being teased by Regina, for some reason, wasn’t the same when it was Ruby or Graham or even Mary Margaret. No, Regina’s teasing made her feel something completely different. Like in many ways everything with Regina did. It all felt different with her.

Emma shook that thought out of her head. “So, you need any help… with whatever it is you’re actually doing?”

“No, I think it’s all sorted out now.” Regina looked around the kitchen, and Emma could tell she was doing some sort of mental overlook and count in her head. She had seen the look so many times before over the past few weeks just when they were about to leave school.

“In that case, are you ready to party, Madam President?” Emma asked.

“Lead the way, Ms. Swan-Blanchard.”  Regina answered, and took Emma’s hand without Emma even offering it. Regina’s hand in hers was soft and warm and... _no, stop it, Emma_.

Regina led Emma out to the living room, as they both knew she would despite her asking Emma to lead to the way. Regina took control, she always did, but most of the time Emma didn’t mind it. Actually, she found it kind of refreshing.

Emma looked around the living room; a lot more people had arrived in just the short amount of time she had spent with Regina in the kitchen. There were probably more people here than had been at her sister’s birthday party, but then again, Graham did have a lot more space. Not that their house was tiny by any measure, but Graham’s was after all a small mansion.

“Wait, is that Killian Jones?” Emma asked when she saw the dark, handsome guy leaning against the staircase.

“Yeah, he lives like a couple of houses down,” Regina answered. “His parents are of the wealthier kind in Storybrooke. That’s how I know him; my parents were friends with his before they split. He and Graham used to be pretty close back when he was still just Karl. As you can see they clearly grew apart.”

There was so much about that answer that intrigued Emma. She had never really pictured either Graham or Regina as rich despite knowing that their families were among the richest in the state. But she would never have guessed that Killian Jones would have a wealthy family. He was clearly rebelling against them, or something.

“Who is that guy he is with?” Emma asked, and pointed to a tall blond guy that seemed to her like some kind of football player.

“Oh, him.” Regina paused. “That is Sam Evans. He is Killian’s newest…” She stopped as if she was searching for the right word. “Boytoy?”

“Killian’s boytoy?” Emma asked, surprised.

“Yes, because I wouldn’t call him his boyfriend. Killian doesn’t do commitment very well, or actually at all.” Regina smiled, but when she caught the confused look on Emma’s face, she asked, “Oh, you didn’t know Killian had a thing for boys?”

“No. I didn’t know he was…” Emma said, slightly annoyed really that Regina knew something like this and she didn’t. She didn’t know why she felt that way.

“The term you are looking for his bisexual, dear,” Regina said, with a slight snark. “I’m pretty sure Killian is into everything that breathes. Especially since it’s less than a week since I caught him with his tongue down Sasha Peterson’s throat.” Regina shuddered at the memory.

“Huh, well, good for him,” Emma said when she regained her senses. She didn’t even know why she had reacted that way. It was just a shock, mostly that she didn’t know it. Especially since she and Ruby have been gossiping about him for years, it was a strange thing that she’d never heard about it.

“Emma, what did you really expect? The guy dresses like David Bowie in Labyrinth,” Regina said, and laughed.

“You got a point there.” Emma said, and laughed with her. “I guess everyone deserves a piece of Killian Jones if they so pleases.”

“Hiiiii!” The loud voice of her best friend made Emma jump, and she turned around to see Ruby in front of her, looking absolutely breathtaking as usual.

“Do you _always_ have to scare me half to death every time you see me?” Emma asked, annoyed. “I mean, you could always act like a normal human being.”

“Nope,” Ruby answered, and popped the p, “What would be the fun in that? I mean really, Emma, normal? Normal is both boring and overrated.”

Ruby turned then to Regina. “Hi, Regina. You look great.”

“Thanks, Ruby. You look pretty good yourself.”

“Seriously? Why doesn’t anyone think I look good?” Emma complained. “First Graham ignores me to gawk at my sister and now you two.” Emma put on her best pouting face to try to get at least some sympathy from the two brunettes.

“Fine. You look quite nice tonight, Ms. Swan-Blanchard,” Regina said in the most pompous voice Emma had ever heard her use, “With that beautiful red leather jacket...”

“What is wrong with my jacket?” Emma asked defensively, and wrapped the jacket tighter around her body.

“You know we love your jacket, Em.” Ruby said, cutting in. “But come on. I want to dance and party and drink. This is my first senior party. Also, is that Killian Jones?”

“Yes, but I am pretty sure he is planning on eating meat tonight,” Regina said.

“Oh my god. Regina!” Emma said, mortified.

“What?” Regina said with the most innocent face.

“I am so lost here right now…” Ruby added.

“See over there?” Emma pointed to where Killian and Sam were standing, “See that good looking blonde boy over there?”

“Yes…”

“See how his hands are all over Killian’s body?”

“Oh…” Ruby said, and then burst out laughing, only to say “I get it now,” when met with strange looks from Regina and Emma.

Emma noticed then that her best friend had somehow managed to juggle two shot glasses with something in her left hand, without spilling it all over herself or Emma.

“That for me?” Emma asked and pointed to the shot glasses.

“Yes!” Ruby said enthusiastically, and handed one to Emma, before looking at Regina, “Sorry, I didn’t bring you one.”

“No worries, dear. I am driving tonight,” Regina said with a smile. “Someone has to make sure the house doesn’t burn down. It is, after all, such a nice house.”

“Okay then, bottom’s up Em,” Ruby said, and they both swallowed the entire shot.

“What was that?” Emma asked after coughing slightly.

“Tequila,” Ruby said with a grin. “No one said the way you lose your alcohol virginity had to be classy.”

“I am not a virgin,” Emma said. “I mean, I’ve been drinking before.”

“Two glasses of wine when watching Pretty Little Liars doesn’t count, honey.” Ruby teased

“You know, sometimes I really hate you.” Emma said, a little pink.

“No you don’t.” Ruby said, and smiled brightly. “You looove me.”

“Do you two want to be alone?” Regina interjected.

“Now you got her to be mean to me too!” Emma said but it was obvious in her voice that she wasn’t mad at all, more like amused. “And besides no, I would never do Ruby.”

“What?” Ruby said in a fake hurt voice, “What’s wrong with me? Am I not hot enough for you?”

“No, you are ghastly,” Emma said, before doubling over in laughter.

“Ha! We both know I am sexy as hell, and you would be lucky to have someone as hot as me,” Ruby argued, jabbing her finger at Emma, before also cracking up in laughter. The entire idea of them hooking up was so ridiculous for both of them, that even flirting was enough to make them fall apart in laughing.

“You two are _really_ strange.” Regina said, as she looked down on the two girls now practically rolling on the floor from their contagious laughter.

“I know. That’s why you like us so much,” Emma said when the laughing fit finally stopped. “Give me a hand would you?” she asked Regina, and Regina took her hand and pulled her up from the floor.

“But now I _do_ want to dance,” Ruby said. ”With the both of you!” And with that, she dragged both Regina and Emma out on the dance floor, which was really just the middle of Graham’s living room where the couches had been pushed the sides.

\--

Emma had no idea how long they had been dancing, or how many shots of tequila had magically ended up in her hand courtesy of Ruby, but what she did know was that dancing with Regina was _incredible._ She never would have figured that Regina Mills would have the kind of moves that she had shown off tonight. It was like there was nothing those hips couldn’t do.

She was mesmerizing to look at, not that she wasn’t always, because she was, which was part of the problem really. But seeing her dancing like this, it looked like she’d always belonged on a dance floor.

“I am tired...” she heard Ruby say, “Come and sit down in the corner.” She pointed over to the where the couches currently were placed.

“Okay,” Emma agreed, before turning to Regina. “You want to join us?”

“Just a minute,” Regina said and smiled. “I’ll join you in a minute.”

“Okay,” Emma said, and then looked over to Graham who was talking to a guy Emma didn’t recognize. “Hey, G-Man, want to join me and Red for some riveting girl talk over there?”

“Not if you are going to continue calling me G-Man,” Graham replied. “And sure, give me a minute. Peter and I are in the middle of something.”

“Fine,” Emma said, “We’ll be waiting patiently.”

“You really two have really hit it off,” Ruby said when they sat down. “You and Graham, I mean.”

“Are you jealous?” Emma asked, both curious and slightly worried. She didn’t really think Ruby was the kind of girl who would get jealous if Emma got new friends, but since they had never been in that situation before it was hard to tell.

“Of course not. I like him,” Ruby answered, “And not like that before you ask. Besides, look at him, I have a feeling he is harboring more than a little crush on your sister.”

Emma looked over to where Graham was standing, and even if he seemed to be listening to what Paul, no, _Peter_ was saying, it was clear that he was looking at something or someone else. Emma followed Graham’s eye line and saw that the person Graham was looking at was in fact her sister, in her usual position on James’ lap. And since Emma found it highly improbable that Graham had a crush on James, her best friend was probably right.

“I promised MM that I wouldn’t go on at her about James anymore.” Emma paused. “She’s fallen for him, apparently. But I wish she hadn’t. I wish she could see that Graham likes her instead. Graham is such a great guy, and I want him to be happy.”

“You can’t play Cupid for everyone. Just because you can’t be with the one girl you want doesn’t mean that everyone else should be able to be with theirs. This is high school, love is fleeting and forever all at once. And people are rarely with the people they are supposed to be.”

“I just wish… I don’t even know anymore.” Emma looked over to where Regina was still dancing. “I guess I wish I could let her go. And every time I think I might have, she looks like that and I just fall all over again.”

“In all fairness, even I am mesmerized by her dancing, Em. She looks amazing,” Ruby said, and smiled. “And one day, you will look at Regina and only see a friend. I promise. You’ll find someone who will make all this pain and shit be worth it.”

“I have to tell you something...” Emma started, and just as she was about to tell her best friend what happened at Mary Margaret’s birthday party and the talk she had with Regina after, Graham, Regina and Peter came over and joined them.

“Em?” Ruby asked, kind of worried, but realized that Emma wouldn’t say anything as long as the other people were there.

“Later, okay? I promise,” Emma said, before turning to Peter. “Hi, I’m Emma. I haven’t seen you around before.” She shook his hand. “And this is Ruby.”

“I’m Peter. I just moved back. I used to live next door when I was kid,” Peter said.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Emma said, and then she saw Ruby mouth, “Oh my god, he is so hot,” behind his back, forcing Emma to stifle a laugh.

“Sit down, we were just talking about love and stuff,” Ruby said, “But I’m sure we can switch to a topic more manly. What about motorcycles?”

“Motorcycles, really, Rubs?” Emma asked. “What on earth do you know about that?”

“About as much as Graham, I figure,” Ruby teased, and punched Graham’s arm as he sat down next to her, Regina on his left and Peter next to Emma.

“What about we play Never Have I Ever?” Peter asked, and the moment he asked Emma had a bad feeling she would end up in trouble, but as everyone else voiced their support, she found couldn’t say no.


	12. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second part of Graham's birthday party causes secrets to be revealed, and kissed to be had.

Emma had no idea how a friendly game of ‘Never Have I Ever’ with Regina, Graham, Ruby and the new guy had turned into this. The group had grown by several people: Mary Margaret sans James, who was apparently in the basement playing foosball with Sean; James’s twin David and his girlfriend Kathryn; Eric, whom Emma knew from the S part of the GSA; and his girlfriend, a girl with gorgeous red hair that Emma thought was called Ariel.

Eric had brought a tequila bottle, saying that there was no way he was playing this game unless it was done properly, and Emma prayed that the questions would be wild enough that she wouldn’t need to drink too much. She had a feeling that the shots that Ruby had given her might already be too much.

“So, who’s going first?” Peter asked. “I’m new, so I shouldn’t have to start.”

“Chicken,” Ruby teased. “I’ll go first.”

She poured tequila in all of the shot glasses before saying, “Never have I ever had sex in the back of a car.”

Mary Margaret took a shot, as did Eric but not Ariel, and the rest just smiled.

“Never have I ever had more than one sexual partner,” David said and smiled at Kathryn who gave him a short sweet kiss. Mary Margaret, Eric and Graham drank. And Emma couldn’t help but smile at the fact that Regina didn’t.

 “Never have I ever had a sexual fantasy about a friend,” Ruby said.

_Goddamn it_. Emma’s mind went in overdrive. Of course she had; how could she _not_ have, with Regina being so damn… _Regina_ all the time? She reached for her shot glass and swallowed the whole thing because why the heck not, while trying her best not to look at Regina. Instead her eyes found Ruby who was smirking at her from across the group. Sometimes Emma really wanted to hit her best friend.

“Never have I ever been caught masturbating,” Emma offered, and shot Ruby a look that pretty much screamed, ‘payback is a bitch’.

Ruby groaned, took her shot, then looked straight at Emma and said, “I hate you so much right now.”

“Well, maybe next time you’ll remember to lock your bedroom door when doing such filthy activities,” Emma snarked back, causing Graham to burst out laughing.

“Really, Rubes?” he turned to her and asked.

“What? A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.” She smiled innocently, and then winked at Peter who proceeded to choke on his own drink.

“Careful, Red, or you’ll kill him before you can land him,” Emma said, and smirked at both of them.

“Oh, trust me. I have every intention of keeping him alive.” Ruby said, and leaned over to kiss Peter’s cheek.

“You have no choice but ask her on a date now, Peter,” Graham said, and punched his friend playfully on the shoulder.

“Good thing I already planned to then.” He smiled at Ruby. “I just planned on making it more awesome than this,” he added and shot Graham a look.

“Sorry, mate,” Graham said, and shrugged.

“Never have I ever had sex with my best friend,” Mary Margaret said; Emma looked at Ruby, and in unison they said “Eww no!” and laughed. However, Emma did notice that the two people on the left of Ruby did drink after sharing a somewhat awkward smile. Emma wasn’t sure if she was sad or slightly jealous that Regina and Graham had slept together. Probably both. It wasn't as if she had hopes – well, realistic hopes – about sleeping with Regina. However, there was something about the fact that Graham had that upset her. It’s not like she didn’t know that _something_ had happened, she just had hoped it hadn’t been _that_.

No one else had any ideas, so Mary Margaret went again. “Never have I ever kissed someone of the same sex,” she said, and Emma shot her a look that said “I hate you” before emptying her shot glass.

Emma noticed that Regina shot her a side glance before taking her own shot, and just smiled.  She noted that almost all of the other people around the table also took a shot with the exception of her sister and Ruby.

“Never have I ever lied to my best friend…” Ariel said, and Emma cursed herself. She could not drink and let Ruby believe she had never lied to her. But she had, several times, about the kiss. So she decided to say to hell with it, and downed her shot. Then she shot Ruby an apologetic look. But she was left with the feeling she would be paying for that later.

-

“You have pretty eyes,” Emma heard someone say behind her.

“What?” she answered, turning around to stand face to face with Fiona Moreno, previously one half of Fiona and Katie.

“I said you have pretty eyes,” Fiona repeated. “Not to take anything else away from you, I mean. You’re gorgeous.”

“Thanks...” Emma nervously answered. “Are you flirting with me?”

“Depends.”

“On what?”

“If you’re interested.” Fiona winked. “Are you?”

Was she? Emma wasn’t sure. Fiona was gorgeous; her dark hair fell in perfect curls, and her wardrobe showed that she had money. And she was gay. Very gay, from all she had heard about her, and Emma couldn’t deny that it was nice to get attention for once.

“Maybe. It depends,” Emma answered, safe and but just a little flirty. Flirting was something Emma had always been pretty good at but she had never tested her skills on someone with compatible sexualities before.

“Really? On what?”

“I know who you are, Fiona Moreno, and everyone knows how you and Katie McAdams work. And I’m not interested in being someone’s pit stop if you and Katie are just getting back together tomorrow,” Emma answered, sounding far more adult than she felt right now.

Fiona shot her a look that said ‘Really?’ in that somewhat obnoxious way, but Emma didn’t back down. “Katie and I are over,” Fiona finally said. “For real this time. No going back.”

“You are?” Emma asked, and the skepticism in her voice was obvious.

“Yeah. I don’t really want to talk about it, but it’s over. I think we both wanted something more than we could give each other, and it looks like she found it somewhere else…” Fiona’s voice trailed off, and Emma suddenly felt guilty for acting the way she did. But before she had the chance to apologize, Ruby popped up and dragged her away.

“What do you think you are doing?” Ruby asked her.

“Flirting, or at least I was trying to until someone just dragged me away.” Emma answered, slightly annoyed about her best friend’s interruption.

“With Fiona Moreno? Are you insane?”

“Why? She’s single, I’m single. She’s gay, I’m gay. What’s the problem?”

“She is _Fiona Moreno_. Unless your name is Katie McAdams, she will use you then dispose of you pretty quickly.”

“She and Katie are over though, and who says I want something permanent anyway? I just want _something_ , Ruby. I’m sick of being alone.”

“Emma…” Ruby sighed before hugging her friend. “You are not alone. You will never be alone again. And just don’t do anything you’ll regret. Trust me.”

“I won’t. I promise. I just… I need this.”

“Why?”

“I just do.”

“Please, stop lying to me Emma. You never used to. Just stop. Don’t think I didn’t notice Regina drinking at that same sex kissing thing, and then you admit to having lied to me. What the hell happened? And don’t tell me you don’t know. Something between you changed after Mary Margaret’s party, and then your stupid cryptic comments about behaving at this party... I might be drunk, but I’m not stupid.”

“Let’s go somewhere,” Emma said, and the two girls walked upstairs until they found an empty room.

“Talk,” Ruby demanded, and sat down on the floor with her back to the wall. Emma sat down on the other side of the small room, opposite Ruby.

“You were right. Something did happen between Regina and me at Mary Margaret’s birthday. Actually, come to think of it, so much changed that day,” Emma said, and let her thoughts drift back to that day just a little over a month ago.

“What on earth happened? I know that suddenly, after that day, you were friends not only with Regina freaking Mills, but also Graham. And I didn’t push, I let it go. But I know that you don’t make friends easy, and suddenly we’re hanging out with the two of them as if we’ve always been friends.”

Emma sighed. “I did something really stupid. You know how I’ve been crushing on Regina for such a long time, and when she showed up at that party I thought I’d hit the jackpot.” Emma stopped for a moment. “And for a while it really seemed like I had. We ended up talking, and we really hit it off. She was kind and caring, and I think I fell a little bit in love with her that night.”

“So what happened?” Ruby asked, now more curious than angry.

“What do you think? I messed up as always.” Emma sighed. “Somehow we ended up in my bedroom and she was just so bloody gorgeous and she was _there._ ”

“And..?”

“I kissed her, okay? I kissed her and she completely freaked out. She ran out of there, after hardly saying a word.”

“Oh, Em. I’m sorry.” Ruby got up and sat down next to Emma instead.

“I was really messed up after it happened, and Mary Margaret had noticed that Regina had run out in a hurry so she sent Graham up to check up on me. And he was so nice, and understanding.”

“But what happened with Regina? I mean…”

“We talked it out. I apologized, she told me she was straight but would like to be friends so I jumped at the chance. But I still can’t get her out of my head, and this friendship thing makes it harder. Because she’s there all the time, and I can’t help fantasizing about how it would be if we had something more.”

“Oh.” Ruby said. “I wish you’d told me.”

“I didn’t want to betray her trust more than I already had. I feel so bad for just kissing her like that, but honestly, I don’t regret it,” Emma admitted. “Not at all. Because then we wouldn’t even be friends.”

“You are really in love with her, aren’t you?” Ruby said. “I mean I knew you liked her, but hearing you talk about her like that…”

“I think I am,” Emma admitted. “That’s why I need whatever the hell is happening with Fiona. I need to get over, Rubes. I can’t keep waiting for something that will never happen. I just can’t. It’s not fair to me.” Emma said, rubbing at her eyes as she began to tear up.

“Em...” Ruby said, and as Emma put her head on Ruby’s shoulder, Ruby pulled her closer. “You’re going to be alright. There’s a girl out there who’s perfect for you, she just doesn’t know it yet.”

“Thank you,” Emma sniffled. “I love you sometimes, you know?”

“I know.” Ruby smiled. “I love you too.”

-

“Sorry about how I acted earlier. It wasn’t even any of my business.” Emma had walked up behind Fiona, and when Fiona turned around, Emma smiled at her.

“Don’t apologize. Just dance with me,” Fiona answered, and led Emma out to the dance floor.

The floor was crowded now, with drunk, horny teenagers and Emma could feel Fiona up against her body. It was an unfamiliar feeling, the closeness of the other girl, the way she rubbed herself against Emma’s body. And it felt good, and nice, and _right_ in a way it had never done before.

Emma wasn’t sure if it was the booze, or if it was about time to do something about this ‘moving on’ thing herself instead of waiting for someone else to make the first move. She looked up into Fiona’s eyes, smiled, and then pulled the older girl into a heated kiss.

It felt good, and it made her stomach tingle and she opened her mouth so that Fiona’s tongue got access. The kiss was rough, yet gentle and for the first time in months, Emma’s thoughts weren’t about Regina.

After what felt like forever, the two girls broke apart. “Wow.” Emma breathed out. “That was…”

“Wicked,” Fiona said, “You are quite the kisser, Blanchard. Though I have to say it took me by surprise.”

“Why?” Emma said, but Fiona just took her hand and dragged her over the sofa area where they sat down.

“Just didn’t think you had it in you.” Fiona smirked. “You always seem too sweet and innocent.”

“How would you know?” Emma asked, surprised; she didn’t even think Fiona knew who she was prior to tonight.

“I might have been watching you for a while…” Fiona admitted.

“Why?”

“You’re beautiful, and I am _very_ gay.” Fiona smirked again. “I noticed you a while ago.”

“You’re quite the looker yourself,” Emma said, not even sure where all of her bravado was coming from, but she liked it. And she was not surprised when Fiona pulled her into another kiss. She could get used to this.

-

“If you are doing this with _her_ , you better be doing it for the right reasons!” Emma heard someone say just outside the kitchen while she was getting a drink, and that someone sounded a lot like Regina.

“What’s it to you, Mills?” another voice answered, and while Emma was fairly certain it was Fiona’s voice she couldn’t understand why Fiona would be talking to Regina.

“Because I care about her, _Moreno_. And I know you, I know you like to pretend we were never friends, and that’s fine. But I _know you._ ”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“That the only person you have ever cared about is Katie, and if you are planning on screwing Emma just to get back at her…”

“You’ll do what?” Fiona almost leered, and Emma wasn’t even sure if she was still awake. This whole thing seemed like a dream. Or maybe she was hallucinating, she wondered. Could drinking even do that?

“You have no idea what I am capable of,Moreno. And I am serious, don’t fuck with her,” Regina practically growled.

“Just _fuck_ her and be done with it, is that what you are saying?”

Emma almost jumped back when she heard the sound of a palm hitting a cheek. “Don’t. I mean it. I won’t stand in your way if you treat her as she deserves. Just don’t use her as your little play toy.”

“Wow, Regina…” Fiona’s voice sounded kinder somehow, and the use of Regina’s first name indicated some sort of change within their conversation. Emma suddenly started feeling guilty for eavesdropping. “I’m sorry, okay? I never planned on using Emma. She is fun and kind, and incredibly beautiful. I just… I don’t know. And for the record, Katie isn’t the only person I ever cared about.”

“I know, Fi. I know.” Regina said, and Emma could hear that one of the two girls walking away. What the hell had just happened? And was there someone in Emma’s life that Regina didn’t have a connection with?  It wasn’t even as if she and Fiona were doing anything serious. She’d liked kissing her; she’d liked that a lot. And she wouldn’t mind doing it again, and again. Fiona was pretty. Well, very pretty. And gay. And Emma just wanted to have fun for once, and just be like other girls.

Just for one night, Emma decided to let it all go. She grabbed the half full bottle of vodka on the counter and took a swing at it. The liquor left a satisfying burning sensation down her throat. She took a couple of more shots, left the now almost empty bottle on the counter and walked back out into the living room, placing the very odd conversation she just overheard out of her mind. She was here to have fun.

After wandering around for a few minutes, she came across Graham. She yelled out as she saw her friend, and threw her arms around him. “Graham! We should dance.”

“How much have you had to drink, Ems?” Graham asked.

“I don’t know. I lost count _hours_ ago.” Emma giggled, actually _giggled_.

“Your dad is going to kill me. Or worse, your sister will,” Graham said as he pulled Emma closer so she wouldn’t lose her footing.

“No.” Emma smiled. “They won’t, because then you’d be dead and I would be sad. And dad would never do anything to make me sad, not MM either, because they love me.”

“Let’s go sit down.”

“No! I wanna dance with you. I’ve barely gotten to dance with anyone. I mean, Fiona just wanted to make out. Not that I minded, I liked kissing her. She smells so good.”

“Okay then. Let’s dance.” Graham said, and gave the DJ the sign for a slow dance so that he could hold Emma up.

“Yaaaay,” Emma said, and the two of them just swayed to the music for a while. “I really like you. You are so nice,” Emma sighed.

“I like you too.” Graham smiled.

“But not like you like my sister right?” Emma asked and gave Graham a ‘you can’t hide from me’ look.

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh, come _on_. Your boner for her is more obvious than my crush on Regina.”

“What?”

Emma just gave him a look, before saying, “I wish you were her boyfriend, then you could really be my brother.”

“You’re really drunk, Emma,” Graham said, and as the song ended Graham practically carried Emma over to the couch. People were starting to leave and the room wasn’t as crowed as it has been before.

“Graham…” Emma said after they sat down.

“Yes?”

“Why’s the room spinning?”

“Oh, honey. Just lay down here and close your eyes for a while. Okay?”

“Okay.” Emma said, and laid her head on Graham’s lap. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

 

 


	13. Chapter 12

The harsh light of morning woke Emma up—well, that and the throbbing headache. She looked around, blinking, and she realized that she had no idea where she was.

“What the hell happened last night?” She groaned to herself as she made sure that she was still dressed. She looked under the covers and realized much to her relief that she didn’t just have her underwear on, but was also wearing flannel pajamas. Not her own, but still.

She rubbed her eyes and tried to remember how she’d ended up in a strange bed. But most of the night before was just a blur. She closed her eyes, but she could only come up with a faint memory of a kiss and of Regina.

Oh crap. Had she kissed Regina again?

No, that didn’t seem right somehow. But something had happened in regards to Regina and a kiss. She was still trying to piece the night together when she heard the door open. She looked up and saw that Graham was entering with a plate of toast and coffee.

“I’m still _here_?” Emma asked, “Why?”

“Don’t worry. Nothing bad happened,” Graham assured her. “You kind of fell asleep on my lap. This was easier than taking you home. This,” he gestured around him, “is my sister’s old room.”

“Are these her PJs too?” Emma asked, slightly embarrassed about passing out.

“Yeah.” Graham sat down on the bed next to Emma with the food and the coffee. “You should probably eat something.”

“Do I have to?” Emma asked. The smell alone made her want to throw up.

“Yes,” Graham ordered. “It’ll do you good. And I brought you coffee.”

“You’re an angel,” Emma said, and grabbed the mug. The warmth of the coffee felt great, and she hoped it would help with her hangover.

“Oh, I also brought these,” Graham said and handed her a couple of aspirins. “I figured you would need them.”

“You really are sent from heaven, aren’t you?”

“Probably,” Graham agreed.

“So… what happened yesterday? Everything is kind of blurry,” Emma admitted.

Graham smiled. “Let’s start with what you remember.”

“Um... I remember playing Never Have I Ever, and Ruby freaking out so I told her about the kiss…” Emma started when realization washed over her, “I made out with Fiona Moreno, didn’t I?”

“You certainly did. And from what I could see, she was into it.”

“Really?” Emma asked half embarrassed, half intrigued.

“Yes. And no, you didn’t do anything else, or anything at all you should be embarrassed about. So you and Fiona had one hell of a make out party, but so what? You’re both single. And trust me, there were definitely more embarrassing things going on.”

“You sure? I mean, I’m beginning to think that maybe I’m not so good with parties. Last time I almost screwed up everything, and this time… Oh, god. Fiona must think I’m so easy.”

“Hey,” Graham said, and smiled before placing his hand on Emma’s. “Last time you made a small mistake, but if you hadn’t, we wouldn’t be friends and you would never have gotten to know Regina. That kiss, however bad you felt about it, was a blessing in disguise. Who knows? Maybe this thing with Fiona could be something great too?”

“You think so?” Emma asked. “I mean, what about Katie?”

“You won’t know until you try,” Graham said. “And as far as Katie goes, she is seeing someone new. Maybe Fiona will always be in love with her, or maybe she won’t. Only time will tell. Take a chance, Emma, and who knows?”

“Thank you.” Emma leaned in and hugged Graham.

“For what?”

“This, and for taking care of me last night.”

“Actually, it was Regina. It was her idea for you to stay here. She was the one who took care of you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. That girl really cares about you, Em. Maybe not the way you wanted, but she really cares for you.”

Emma smiled at the thought. Yeah, maybe she wanted more from Regina, but she was more than happy with her friendship. The girl was fantastic, and fiercely loyal. Emma was lucky to have Regina on her side.

“Oh crap!” Emma then burst out. “Dad is going to kill me.”

“No, he won’t.”

“How would you know? He is totally gonna kill me, then he’s going to kill Mary Margaret, and then he’s gonna kill me again.”

“Do you really think Regina would make you stay here without having a plan? That woman was ready. When she drove your sister home last night she told your dad that you wanted to help me clean up and it would be easier if you just stayed here after helping me out.”

“Is there anything that girl can’t do?” Emma asked, astonished. Of course Regina had come up with a plan to keep her out of trouble.

“If there is, I haven’t come across it yet.”

\--

It was Monday morning, and Emma was still a little hungover. Not like she had been on Saturday, but she still had a headache, and she’d been about as close to skipping as one person can be without actually deciding to skip. The only reason she was at school was so she could thank Regina for what she’d done for her.

So, she entered the school and headed for the media room where she knew she could find Regina. Somehow, it had become a little bit of a tradition for them to meet half an hour before school started on Monday so that Regina could look over Emma’s algebra homework. And Emma treasured those moments, even if it meant she had to get up even earlier on Mondays, because it was her moment with Regina, their little thing.

And it was moments like these when Emma knew that what Graham had told her on Saturday morning was true, because now she couldn’t imagine her life without Regina in it. For so long she had been crushing on her from afar. Lusting, you could even call it. Now she could call Regina one of her closest friends, just because she was stupid and kissed her.

Emma’s life had been a series of bad luck until she had screwed up so badly that her file had ended up in Leo’s pile of screwed up kids, and he had decided she was worth the risk and brought her home. Up until that moment Emma had never felt lucky, she had been dealt a terrible hand in life and then suddenly, almost out of nowhere, she had a family.

Suddenly, she’d had someone who believed in her and thought that for the first time everything would be okay. Her luck had changed; she’d gone from always screwing up to somehow always ending up where she needed to be. Maybe everything that had happened this year was just a part of a bigger plan. Maybe Regina was only meant to be her friend, and maybe Fiona was the one.

She reached the media room and opened the door to find Regina sitting on the couch writing something intently on her computer.

“Hi,” Emma said, and joined Regina on the couch.

“Hi,” Regina replied, and smiled at her. “I wasn’t sure you were going to show up today.”

“To be completely honest, I came this close to not coming in today,” holding up two fingers almost pinched together. “But I really wanted to talk to you.”

“You wanted to talk to me? Why?”

“I wanted to thank you for everything you did for me on Friday.”

Regina blushed slightly and said, “I didn’t do anything--”

“You looked out for me, Regina. You made sure I wouldn’t get in trouble with Dad. You made sure I didn’t do anything stupid, or that no one took advantage of me. You have no idea how grateful I am for that.”

“Hey.” Regina placed her hand on Emma’s thigh. “That’s what friends are for. I had your back. That’s all.”

“Friends, huh?” Emma said as a throwback to that first night in her bedroom.

“The best,” Regina said, and smiled. And Emma’s heart swelled a little, because she had never really had that many people she could count on. And then somehow Regina had fallen into her life, completely by accident and she couldn’t help but be eternally grateful for that.

“So how are you feeling?” Regina asked.

“Like hell.” Emma said and laughed.

“Well, I am pretty sure you drank a bottle of vodka all by yourself, so I can’t say I am very surprised.”

“I’m an idiot, which seems to be a pattern for me at parties.”

“For what it’s worth, I don’t think you’re an idiot. You act without thinking about all the possible outcomes. I actually envy that about you. I wish I could take more chances.”

Regina smiled at her, and Emma got that feeling again. That feeling she had at Mary Margaret’s party. That feeling that there is so much more to Regina Mills than what she lets people see.  And Emma so desperately wanted to know that Regina she’d seen glimpses of, because as far as Emma was concerned, _that_ Regina was the most beautiful girl in the world.

“Thank you. Again. For everything. I know you said that you were just being my friend, but still. I’m not quite used to people having my back.” Emma leaned over and hugged Regina, something she rarely did because Regina wasn’t a big fan of physical contact but Emma felt like the moment called for a hug.

There was a knock on the door, “Come in,” Regina called as she broke from the hug, and Emma couldn’t help but feel a little sad at the sudden lack of Regina’s body against her.

“Fiona?” Regina asked, surprised, when she saw who had entered the room. “What are you doing here?”

“Actually, I was looking for Emma.”

“For me? How did you know I was here?” Emma asked.

“I ran into your sister, and she told me you’d be here.”

“I’m going to go to the student council room and pick up the announcements,” Regina said quickly, and Emma knew she was lying because Regina always brought them with her on Mondays so she wouldn’t have to rush back and forth.

“Moreno,” Regina said as she passed Katie in the door.

“Mills,” Fiona answered, but in a far nicer tone than the one Regina had used.

And just like that, Emma was alone with the girl she kissed at a party the weekend before on Monday morning. Again.

“So…” Emma started carefully. “Why did you want to see me?”

“I had a great time on Friday. Much better than I thought I would, to be honest. It was the first time in a while my mind hasn’t been on Katie.”

“I’m glad. It was fun,” Emma said, a little more relaxed when she realized that she had not in fact made a fool out of herself after all.

“So, do you have a date to the Halloween party?” Fiona asked.

“Actually, no. My date cancelled on me.” Emma was supposed to go with Ruby, but her best friend had called her on Saturday totally elated that Peter had asked her, and wondered if Emma would be devastated if she ditched her for a date.

“And she wouldn’t be jealous if I were to ask you?” Fiona asked.

“Since it was Ruby, no, she definitely won’t be,” Emma said, and grinned. “Does that mean you’re going to ask me?”

“Emma Blanchard, would you like to go the Halloween dance with me?”

“It’s Swan-Blanchard,” Emma corrected, “But yes. I would love to.”

“Give me your phone,” Fiona said and Emma handed her phone over so that Fiona could program her number in.

“There. Just send me a text so I get yours and I’ll talk to you about Friday later.” Fiona smiled. “I have to run. I have biology.”

“Talk to you later,” Emma said. Fiona kissed her and walked out the door, leaving Emma standing there with a big grin on her face. It took about five seconds before panic struck her. “Oh my god. I just agreed to a date with Fiona Moreno.” It was one thing to make out with her at a party, but an actual date with Storybrooke High’s most famous lesbian? That was something else entirely.

Thank god she’d had her costume planned for over a month, and she’d decided on a fairly attractive one. She wanted to impress Fiona. After all, she was gorgeous, and Katie was one of the prettiest girls Emma had ever seen. Oh god. What if Katie was there? Is that why Fiona asked her? So she could make Katie jealous? Because Katie had a new girlfriend?

“What did Moreno want?” Emma was startled by Regina’s voice; she hadn’t even noticed her coming back.

“Uh… She, uh... She asked me to be her date to the Halloween Dance,” Emma eventually blurted out. She didn’t even know why she was so nervous about it. It wasn’t like she had any obligation to Regina, yet somehow in that moment she felt guilty for agreeing to go with Fiona. Which was ridiculous. She and Regina were friends, and Regina had made it very clear that that’s all they will ever be.

“And I assume you said yes?” Regina asked in a formal, yet friendly tone which Emma had only ever heard her use at student council meetings.

“Yes. I was supposed to go with Ruby, but she bailed on me because Peter asked her. And Fiona is fun to be around.”

“Just be careful, okay?” Regina said, in a much softer tone.

“What?” Emma asked.

“I said, be careful. I knew Fiona once, and I just don’t want you to get hurt when she gets back together with Katie.”

“You don’t know that’s going to happen...” Emma said defensively. “Maybe they are really over this time. Besides, it’s only one date.”

“You should go if you don’t want to be late for class,” Regina said just as Graham walked in.

“Sorry I’m late. I didn’t interrupt anything, did I?” He looked between the two girls.

“No. Emma was just leaving,” Regina said, and Emma felt a little hurt at the dismissal but put it aside. Regina was right; she would be late, and Regina and Graham needed to do the announcements.

“Yeah, I was. Talk you both later,” She said to Graham and Regina, and exited the room.

\--

“So what did Fiona Moreno want with you today?” Mary Margaret said, and sat down next to Emma at the kitchen table.

Emma closed her English book and looked at her sister. “She asked me to be her date to the Halloween Dance.”

“Really?” Mary Margaret asked, surprised. “I mean, I saw that you got along well at Graham’s party. Well, _everyone_ saw that.”

“Like you can talk,” Emma teased back. “I didn’t even see you after ‘Never Have I Ever’ because you and James disappeared somewhere I don’t want to think about.”

“Shush.” Mary Margaret said, and playfully punched her sister’s arm. “But Fiona?”

“Yeah, she said she had a good time at the party and wanted to see me again, I guess. I said yes, by the way.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Why shouldn’t I?” Emma asked. “And if you’re gonna say because of Katie, just don’t. Regina already made it clear that she thinks they are destined to get back together, and Ruby bet $20 they’ll be back together in three weeks. I don’t need you to tell me as well.”

“I’m just looking out for you. But, I was thinking more about Regina.”

“Regina and I are just friends, MM. I can’t spend the rest of my life waiting for something that’ll never happen. She told me that much. She’s straight, and yes, I am still slightly in love with her. But Fiona is gay. She is single, no matter what everyone else might say. And she is pretty. I see no problem with being her date.”

“Did you know that Fiona and Regina used to be best friends?”

Emma looked at Mary Margaret, surprised. “What? No. From the little exchange I heard today, they seemed less than friendly towards each other.”

“Nobody really knows what happened. They were inseparable for years, and then suddenly one day, nothing.”

“It doesn’t matter. Sometimes people just grow apart. I won’t let it stop me, anyway.”

“Fine. I just thought you should know. And I know that you can look out for yourself, but please be careful. There is a reason why everyone thinks Katie and Fiona will get back together. I just don’t want you to get your hopes up.”

“Let’s say she is using me to get back at Katie, which I honestly don’t think is true. It doesn’t feel like she is. But if she is, I’ll deal with it when it happens. Right now, I want to go on a date. I want to have fun. I want to have what you’ve had for years. A date with a person who I am actually attracted to. I want to be a 16 year old girl, okay?”

Mary Margaret squeezed her forearm and smiled. “Okay. I’ll let you get back to your homework, Ems.”

Emma groaned before opening up her English textbook again.

 

 


	14. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for Fiona and Emma's big date.

The week leading up to the Halloween ball went by in a blur for Emma, and other than her initial freak out she had been pretty calm about her upcoming date. Sure, she might have called Sarah in a bit of a panic Thursday night but that was just to make sure she knew all the lesbian dating rules or whatever.

Emma almost jumped at the sound of the doorbell, “I got it!” she yelled out and ran down the stairs to make sure her dad didn’t reach the door first and embarrassed her endlessly in front of Fiona before she even had the chance to warn the poor girl.

“Hi..” She said as she opened the door and saw Fiona standing there. She was dressed in a red cheerleader uniform and her hair was in a tight ponytail. She looked really good.

“Santana, I presume?” Emma asked.

“You are correct. I figured since we are both super-hot and super gay, so I figured it was a perfect fit.”

“Come in. I have to warn you though. Dad is probably more excited about this than I am, so I beg you not to judge me based on that. Apparently this is my first dance with a _real_ date, according to him. So pictures are going to happen.”

“Aww. Your dad is adorable.” Fiona said, and Emma couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or not, so she decided to let it slide without further comment.

“And you are dressed as?” Fiona asked when she got into the living room.

“Buffy Summers.” Emma said, and smiled, but when Fiona face made no signs of recollection, she added, “The Vampire Slayer.”

“Oh. Yeah. I never watched that. Not really my thing.”

“I didn’t really think it would be mine either. But after I moved in here it was all Mary Margaret talked about, so she eventually forced me to watch it with her. And I fell in love with the show.”

“Wait, after you moved in?” Fiona asked, “Haven’t you always lived with your dad and sister?”

“No. I am adopted. Dad took me in when I was 10, and I was adopted about a year later…” Emma said reserved. She still didn’t like talking about her life prior to coming to Storybrooke. It was so much about that time she wanted to forget. Things she wanted to stay buried, preferably forever.

“Oh, I didn’t know.”

“It’s fine. Most people don’t, I guess.” Emma said trying to keep her mood up. “But I should get dad so he can do whatever it is he has planned.”

“Cool.”

“Dad! Fiona is here!” Emma yelled out for her father.

She turned to Fiona and said, “He should be down in a minute.”

“So I guess your father doesn’t have a problem with the whole you being gay thing?” Fiona asked.

“No. He was actually really cool about it.” Emma smiled, and remembered how worried she had been about her dad and he been so amazing. “He was a little taken back at first. But in all fairness, so was pretty much everyone. Honestly, I think he was a little relieved.”

“Why?”

“Because while being gay brings a whole bag of its own issues, I think he was always so worried I would end up pregnant at 16.”

“He was worried about that?”

“Yeah. I think he has seen to many girls with my ehm... background end up in that situation. I guess his job brings his own baggage.”

“What does your dad do?”

“He is a social worker. He specializes in difficult and trouble kids.” Emma said, and thought about how she was once one of those kids. And again how blessed she was that he thought she was worth the risk.  She turned around at the sound of her father coming down the stairs.

“Hello. You must be Fiona.” Leo said as he reached the girls.

“Yes. It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Blanchard.” Fiona said and held out her hand, so Leo could shake it.

“Please call me Leo.” He said with a big smile.

“Can we just take the pictures so that we can leave already?”  Emma said, she just wanted to get to the dance. All the nerves were coming back, and she was worried her dad would do something to embarrass her.

“Of course sweetheart.” Leo said in his most sickly sweet voice. “Anything for you.”

“Dad…” Emma warned.

“Fine, I’ll behave.” Leo said, and smiled at his youngest daughter.

\--

The two girls arrived at the dance, and it was already filling up. Emma looked around for her sister and Regina but could not spot either one of them. Her sister had decided to get ready with Kathryn, so James and David were going to pick them up at her Kathryn’s place

“I see a couple of girls from the drama club over there.” Fiona pointed over to a bunch of girls, standing next to the stage, dressed as what could only be described as sexy zombies. “I am just going to say hi okay?”

“That’s fine. I am just going to get some punch or something in the meantime.” Emma said, and was slightly taken a back when Fiona pecked her lips before leaving despite the fact that Fiona had done the exact same thing when Fiona had asked her out. Still it was strange that someone kissed her. Someone _female._

While looking at where Fiona went over, she didn’t notice Ruby sneaking up on her from the back and pinching her sides. However, not seeing Ruby didn’t mean that Emma didn’t realize it was her when it happened.

Emma turned around, and saw her best friend dressed as Katniss Everdeen, complete with the bow and everything.

“Ruby! Why do you have to do that every time?” Emma said annoyed.

“Because it’s fun.” Ruby said and smirked.

“I hate you sometimes.”

“No, you don’t.” Ruby said, and Emma laughed because Ruby was right. Emma could never hate her best friend.

“So, where’s your date, Buff?” Ruby asked.

“I lost her to the sexy zombies over there.” Emma said, and pointed towards the stage.

“Aww... poor Emmy. Lost her date to the zombies already. Are you that boring?”

“Ha ha. No, they are drama kids. She wanted to say hi. And please don’t say that, I am nervous enough as it is.”

“Oh, come on. You already made out like crazy at Graham’s party, so I am pretty sure she actually likes you. Just be yourself, and she will fall head over heels. I mean, who could possibly turn you down?”

“Everyone.” Emma said, “I’m not smooth like you.”

“Are you implying I am easy, Em?”

“No. That would be my sister.”

Ruby laughed, “Yes. That is true. But just relax Em, Fiona likes you. She wouldn’t have asked you if she didn’t.”

“That is a different tune coming from you. Don’t you have a bunch of money on her and Katie getting back together before the end of the month?”

“I changed my mind, okay? I want you to be happy. And maybe Fiona is the girl to make you that.”

“Thanks. But onto something completely different...” Emma said, “Where the hell did you get a bow?”

“Believe it or not, Peter had one. Apparently his sister does archery, or did. I am not sure.”

“Really?” Emma asked, “And speaking of Peter. Where is _your_ date? Did you lose him to a bunch of sexy zombies too?”

“I actually don’t know. I lost him almost the moment we came in. I think we got separated inside the superhero posse over there…” Ruby said, and pointed to a rather big group of people dressed as everything from Thor to Superwoman.

“So what was he dressed as?”

“Robin Hood.”

“Really?” Emma asked, amused.

“Yeah.” Ruby smiled, “It better than Peter Pan.”

“But doesn’t he also need a bow? Or doesn’t the non-Fox version of Robin carry a bow?”

“Oh, he does.” Ruby said dreamily. “He certainly does.”

“Since when were bows such a turn on for you?” Emma asked curiously.

“Since I saw Peter with one. And he can actually use it. I guess I should have said that Peter _and_ his sister do archery.”

“You are so weird.” Emma said.

“Emma, look...” Ruby said, and pointed to something behind Emma. Emma turned around and saw Regina.

Emma almost expected a spot light and for Jesse McCartney’s “Best Day of My Life” to start playing, but instead of being dressed as Cinderella, Regina was dressed as something else entirely. Dressed completely in what looked like black leather, Emma could only assume Regina was dressed as a mix of the Evil Queen and Maleficent. Well, either that or a dominatrix. 

“Hot damn...” Emma said.

“Hell, I am right there with you.” Ruby admitted, “She looks amazing. Who knew our fearless president could rock leather like that?”

“I had no idea. But seeing it now, I wonder why she doesn’t always wear clothes like that…”

“She looks pretty great.” Ruby agreed.

“I’m going to say hi.” Emma said, but as soon as she turned around to start walking towards Regina, Fiona appeared.

“Wanna dance?” Fiona asked.

“I was actually…” Emma started, but changed her mind. She could talk to Regina anytime; she was here on a date. And if she wanted this to go well, she would have to pay attention to Fiona.

“You know what, never mind. Yes,  I would love to dance with you.” Emma said, and took Fiona’s hand and lead her out on the dance floor. The Rumbling Dingoes style wasn’t exactly slow ballads but Emma enjoyed just dancing next to Fiona before Killian said, “And now, we are going to play something completely different. This goes out to all of you lovers just beginning out there.”

_You never know when you're gonna meet someone_

_And your whole wide world in a moment comes undone_

_You're just walking around then suddenly_

_Everything that you thought that you knew above love is gone_

_You find out it's all been wrong_

_All my scars, don't seem to matter anymore_

_Coz they lead me here to you_

 “I love this song.” Emma said, as Fiona pulled her closer.

“Good.” Fiona smiled, “I asked him to play it.”

“Really?” Emma asked.

“He owes me a favor.”

 

_I know it's gonna take some time_

_But I've got to admit_

_That the thought has crossed my mind_

_This might end up like it should_

_I'm gonna say what I need to say_

_And hope to god that it don't scare you away_

_Don't want to be misunderstood_

_But I'm starting to believe that_

_This could be the start of something good_

 

“I’m really glad you asked me to come with you.” Emma almost whispered.

“I’m glad too.” Fiona said, and looked into Emma’s eyes. They continued to dance while keeping eye contact and Emma could feel the butterflies in her stomach. She was really glad she had taken this chance. Maybe this really would be the beginning of something great.

 

_Everyone knows life has it's ups and downs_

_One day you're on top of world_

_And one day you're the clown_

Emma couldn’t believe she was here, at the Halloween Dance with Fiona Moreno, slow dancing with a girl. 6 months ago she would never have believed this. Last year at Halloween Dance she had gone with Jamie Carter and he had been cute and perfect and everything Emma should have wanted. Yet, the whole time she had been watching the other girls. Wishing that she was there with someone else. Someone more _female._ And now she was. Not just with someone, but with Fiona freakin’ Moreno.

_Well I've been both enough to know_

_That you don't wanna get in the way when it's working out_

_The way that it is right now_

_You see my heart; I wear it on my sleeve_

_Coz I just can't hide it anymore_

So maybe Fiona wasn’t Regina. But Emma was starting to see that maybe she didn’t have to be. Regina was a dream. A fantasy. Fiona was real, and she was right here in her arms. Dancing with her. Fiona had wanted to be with her tonight, and the least Emma could do was to be here with her. Fully and without reservation.

_I know it's gonna take some time_

_But I've got to admit_

_That the thought has crossed my mind_

_This might end up like it should_

_I'm gonna say what I need to say_

_And hope to god that it don't scare you away_

_Don't want to be misunderstood_

_But I'm starting to believe that_

_This could be the start_

Of course it was scary. Starting something new was always freighting. But she would never know if she didn’t take the jump. And she was ready. Ready to take on the world as she is.

_Coz I don't know where it's goin'_

_There's a part of me that loves not knowin'_

_Just don't let it end before we begin_

_You never know when you're gonna meet someone_

_Don't wanna be misunderstood_

_But I'm starting to believe that this could be the start_

_Coz I don't know where it's goin'_

_There's a part of me that loves not knowin'_

_Just don't let it end before we begin_

_You never know when you're gonna meet someone_

_And your whole wide world in a moment comes undone_

 

Emma looked deeply into Fiona’s eyes, and leaned in and kissed her. Of her own initiative this time. She wanted to kiss Fiona. She was almost breathtaking. The kiss started out slow, but soon grew in passion.

 

_I know it's gonna take some time_

_But I've got to admit that the thought has crossed my mind_

_This might end up like it should_

_I'm gonna say what I need to say_

_And hope to god that it don't scare you away_

_Don't want to be misunderstood_

_But I'm starting to believe that_

_This could be the start of something good_

-

 

“Wow. Killian is actually kind of good.” Emma said, as the Rumbling Dingoes finished their first set.

“We’ve be back in 30 minutes, in the meantime enjoy this nice party mix.” Killian said into the mic.

“I know. He was actually my first kiss…” Fiona admitted, “We were 9, I think.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. He was still Karl back then, which seriously, if my parents had named me Karl, I would have gone Goth and pretended to be Goth pirate on stage with the name Killian too.”

Emma laughed, “So how did you know each other?”

“Oh, I forgot you didn’t always live in Storybrooke. We were part of the Golden Five, which by the way we didn’t call ourselves. It was Killian, Graham, Regina, Michael Jefferson and me.”

“Why were you called the Golden Five?” Emma asked curiously, and was slightly taken aback that Fiona and Regina went that far back, despite what Mary Margaret had told her about them.

“Because we were rich, and probably more spoiled than we should have been. I guess we were the kind of people who had Storybrooke been a bigger town with private school, would have attended it. Our parents hang out together, as rich people seem to do. So the five of us have known each other since we were kids and we were all raised by nannies who were also friends. We were always together.”

“So why aren’t you all friends anymore?” Emma asked, trying to keep it casual, even if what she really wanted to know was what really happened between her and Regina.

“I guess we grew apart. You know, when you are kids the things that make you inseparable is usually the fact that you live close together, or that your parents are friends. We practically lived in each other houses for 10 years. But then we grew up, became different people.” Emma could sense that Fiona probably wishes she had kept better touch with them.

“I get it. I mean, I never really experienced it. I mean, before I came here, and before I met Ruby. I didn’t really have many friends. I never stayed long enough at one place to really meet them.” Emma said, trying to be casual about her past.

“People change. We grow up. I mean, just look at The Golden Five. With the exception of Graham and Regina, none of us are really friends anymore. I mean Killian has his thing, I have mine, and god knows what Michael is doing these days.”

“Do you miss it?” Emma asked.

“Yes and no. I don’t know. Things were simpler back then. But I have nothing to complain about. I have great friends and people around me.” She smiled at Emma, “But yeah. Sometimes I miss them. I mean we shared something that no one else did.”

“I get it.” Emma said, and took Fiona’s hand and squeezed it.

“But enough of this serious talk. Let’s dance some more.”

“Sure.” Emma said, and let Fiona lead her back out on the dance floor.

\--

It had been almost an hour since Regina came, and Emma hadn’t caught sight of her once since her entrance. She had lost Fiona again; she wasn’t even sure where to this time, when she finally caught sight of Regina again.

“Wow. You look amazing.” Emma said as she approached Regina.

“Thank you. You were the one who kept referring to me as ‘Your Majesty’, so I figured it was only fitting.”

“That was like two times. Tops.”

“If you say so, Miss Swan-Blanchard.” Regina said in that tone she practically only used for that very sentence.

“So I am guessing a mix between The Evil Queen and Maleficent then?

“Something like that.” Regina said with a twinkle in her eye. “What was your other guess?”

“How did you know I had more than one guess?”

Regina just looked at her as if it was obvious. And Emma had to admit that sometimes it was a little scary how well Regina knew her, despite only knowing her for a couple of months. 

“Fine. It was dominatrix.”             

“Really?” Regina asked her tone almost surprised.

“Yeah. All that leather, you know. Besides you could totally pull it off.” 

You are entering dangerous flirting territory here, Emma. She tried to tell herself. She was here with a date, an actual _female_ date, and yet she couldn’t keep herself from flirting with Regina, But then again, their almost flirty banter have become a staple of their interaction. 

“If you say so…Buffy.”

“I didn’t think you’d know who I was..”

“Stake, white dress and black leather jacket? Complete with the cross. Who else could you be? Hannah Montana?”

“I mean… I didn’t think you knew who Buffy was. I didn’t really think it was your thing.”

“Graham is my best friend, Emma….” Regina said and pointed somewhere behind Emma, and Emma turned around to look for Graham. When she saw him, she laughed, he was dressed in an exact replica of Nathan Fillion’s character ‘Mal’ from Firefly.

“I guess you have a point there. He is about as geeky as my sister.” And as if the gods had heard her Emma saw her sister enter the room, with James at her side. He was dressed as what Emma could only guess what a very sleazy version of a fairytale prince. Not even close to what she would have considered a Prince Charming.

Her sister on the other hand was wearing a beautiful purple dress with some sort of jewelry attached to it. It looked like it was hand sown, and Emma suddenly realized why her sister had had a “no access” policy on her bedroom for the past month. She had curled her hair only slightly, giving her not full curls but something in between.  It wasn’t before she saw the necklace and her bracelet that things fell into place and she laughed. Her sister was dressed as ‘Inara’ from Firefly.

How her sister didn’t realize just how perfect Graham was for her was beyond Emma’s comprehension. The two of them had made elaborate cosplay outfits for a Halloween Dance. That is probably the closest thing to destiny you’ll find in this life. But alas, her sister walked into the Halloween dance with a poor imitation of a Prince Charming instead of the Captain that would have made her outfit complete.

“Is she..?” Regina asked

“Inara. Yes.” Emma interrupted, “Graham is going to have a heart attack when he sees her. It will be like all of his dreams come true.”

“He has it bad for her, doesn’t he?” Regina asked, almost sad.

“You see it too?” Emma asked, trying to ignore the sadness in Regina’s voice. She still didn’t really know what had happened between Regina and Graham, though Graham had told her that Regina broke his heart. Emma didn’t want to know if Regina regretted it. And she really didn’t want to know if Regina wanted to get back together with him.

Emma knew she couldn’t expect Regina to be single forever, but she really didn’t want her to get back with Graham. It would just mess things up. In so many ways.

“I think everyone sees it, Emma. Well, everyone except your sister.” Regina said.

“God, I wish she could see it. James is such an asshat, and Graham is bloody wonderful. I just want them both to be happy…”

“Unfortunately, this is high school.” Regina said, “And James is super popular, and those boys always gets the girl.”

“That’s pretty much what Ruby said.”

“Well, Ruby is smarter than she lets on.”

“Tell me about it.” Emma said, and then laughed.

“So where is your date?”

“I don’t know. I lost her somewhere. Again. I think it’s the third time. She is slippery. ” Emma joked, “Or maybe just really popular.”

“So, are you having a nice time?” Regina asked.

“Yeah. I mean, it’s different. Yet very much the same.” Emma said, and when she saw the somewhat confused look on Regina’s face she continued, “You know, last year I was at this very same spot, except my date was a guy. And we did the same things I am doing with Fiona. We had punch, we danced, we had fun. But it was never… I don’t know. It never felt right with him.” Emma explained.

“And it’s right now?” Regina asked, in that tone that Emma never quite could decipher. But Emma just chalked that up to Regina’s past with Fiona, whatever that past might be.

“I don’t know if Fiona is like the _one_ or anything. This is only our first date,” Emma joked, “but yeah. I feel better. I don’t really know how to explain it. I just feel like it fits. I don’t know how else to put it into words.”

“I’m happy for you.” Regina said, and it seemed like she was going to say something more when Fiona appeared behind Emma.

“Damn, Mills. Looking good. Who knew you cleaned up this nice.” Fiona said to Regina.

“I see you went with the good old cheerleader, Moreno.” Regina said in that somewhat disappointed tone that Emma heard her use that morning in the media room.

“Hey! I’m Santana Lopez. The hottest lesbian on network TV.” Fiona defended herself, “I thought it was fitting.”

“It’s good to know your ego is still intact.” Regina almost sniped, and Emma decided to take action before it good ugly.

“Come on.” She said to Fiona, “I want to talk to my sister. And I want you to come with me.” She took Fiona’s hand, “I’ll talk to you later, Regina.” Emma said as she practically dragged her date towards where her sister and her boyfriend was, in hopes of stopping a potential bloodbath.

-

“I had a really good time tonight.” Emma said, as Fiona walked her up to her door.

“Even though Regina and I almost came to blows several times?” Fiona asked, ”I know she is one of your best friends. It’s just...”

“You guys have some sort of history. I get it. I mean, I don’t get it, but I am not going to push you two to spend more time together.” Emma said with a smile. The dance had been pretty interesting, when it came to the two of them. The first interaction had only been the beginning. Emma didn’t know what has set them off, but when she was off talking to Graham, she had caught the two girls fighting by the punch table.

“Thank you. I would never ask you to choose. Especially not after one date. But there is something that happens when Regina and I are in the same room.” Fiona shrugged, “I’m really glad you had a good time though.

“I really did. It was really fun. I’m glad I took the chance on you, Fiona Moreno.”

“Fiona Arabella Moreno,” Fiona said and laughed, “And I am really glad you did too. I mean I even won a month worth of pancakes at Granny’s.”

“I can’t believe you bought that many raffles.”

“What? It’s a good cause, also pancakes.”

Emma laughed.

“I guess this is goodnight.” Emma said as they stood outside their door.

“I guess it is.” Fiona said, and leaned in and kissed Emma fiercely. Emma had come to realize she really liked kissing Fiona. Her lips were soft, and she smelled so good. It was so much better kissing girls than boys.

“Good night.” Fiona said as the broke apart. “I’ll call you tomorrow. I really want to have a second date.”

“Me too. Talk to you tomorrow.” Emma said, and opened the door and walked in. She closed it, and fell to the floor with a huge smile on her face.

“So I guess the date was a success then?” Emma was surprised by the voice of her sister, and turned towards the sitting room to see her sister sitting in a chair reading a book.

“Yes. It was great. I didn’t expect you to be home though. I figured you would end up at James’” Emma shuddered at the thought.

“Well, he and Sean got drunk. I don’t even know who brought the booze but I was just not going to do that.”

“I’m sorry.” Emma said, and sat on the armrest of her sister’s chair. “I know you really like him. But…”

“Not tonight, Em. Please?” Mary Margaret said, and Emma could tell that she was properly upset so she decided not to push it.

“Okay. You look brilliant though.” Emma said, and kissed the top of her sister’s head. “It’s fantastic. Are you sure you want to teach and not become a fashion designer or something?”

“Yeah. Nothing is better than the feeling of teaching someone something they don’t understand.”

“You are such a freak.” Emma said, “But I love you anyway.”

“I love you too.” Mary Margaret said, “And I am really glad you date went well. You know I just want you to be happy.”

“I know. But I think I am going to bed.” Emma said, seeing as she had practically not slept the night before due to the nerves she refused to accept that she had had. “Good night.”

“Good night, Em."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So you probably noticed this thing was unbeta’ed because my wonderful beta Sophie is on an extended hiatus from all things fandom (and internet), so if one of you wonderful people would want to beta for me, I would be eternally grateful.


	15. Chapter 14

”Hi, I’m home,” Emma said as she entered the house, she looked over to the TV area where she found her sister, watching another one of those Rachel McAdams movies she loved so much, which usually meant she had fought with James _again._

“Were you out with Fiona again?” Mary Margaret asked when Emma sat down next to her, “I feel like I have barely seen you these past two weeks.”

“Yes, I was. And so what if we’ve been on 10 dates since Halloween? I really like her,” Emma answered, almost defensively.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I am happy for you,” Mary Margaret smiled, “So what did you guys do this time?”

“We saw a movie,” Emma answered with a twinkle in her eyes.

“Which one?”

“I have no idea. I couldn’t even tell you what it was about. We didn’t see very much...” Emma blushed.

“My baby sister is growing up....” Mary Margaret said in a faux sad voice, and then proceeded to pinch Emma’s cheek.

“Haha,” Emma said, sarcastically.

“No, but Em. This is a big moment in your life, the first time you went to the movies to make out instead of watching the movie.”

“It’s not that big of a deal, MM. I really like hanging out with Fiona, and she likes me.”

“I’m happy for you, I really am. It makes me so happy to see you like this. I was worried there for a while.”

“You were worried about me?”

“I always worry about you,” Mary Margaret said, and placed her hand on her sister’s leg. “And when you came out, I worried. I worried you wouldn’t be able to have this. And now you do.”

“Yeah, I really do. I am not saying I am falling in love with her or anything, but it’s nice to see that as a possible future you know? I mean, this feels different than it did with Brian or with Justin,” Emma said brightly.

“I’m glad. You deserve everything, Emma.”

Emma looked at her sister, and to the movie that was playing, “So do you. Please don’t forget it.”

“Em…”

“I’m not going to say anything, I promise. Just take care of yourself,” Emma said, before standing up, kissing her sister’s head.

“I’ll try,” Mary Margaret said, and Emma felt her heart break a little at the fact that her sister let her boyfriend treat her like that. But there was nothing she could do. She could only hope that Mary Margaret would see that light, or that James would. She wanted to say something; instead she just said, “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

\--

“So, it’s been a little over two weeks. How are things going with you and Fiona?” Graham asked casually as they were sitting in the student council room waiting for Regina to finish up with yearbook, and Ruby to get done with track so they could go get their weekly Friday pizza.

“It’s great,” Emma said dreamily. “She’s fun, she makes me smile, she has a great sense of humor, and she gets me.”

“Besides she is super-hot,” Graham added.

“Graham!” Emma exclaimed in a voice of fake shock.

“Come on, she totally is Em. Just because she plays for your team doesn’t mean I can’t look.” He smirked at her, and Emma slapped him playfully.

“You are such a pig some times, Gray.”

“Just keeping it real.”

“You’re an ass. I am so glad I’m into girls,” Emma said jokingly. “But also, you are right. She is smoking hot.”

“Ha. I knew you were as shallow as I am. You just pretend to be all superior with your lesbian skills.”

“Why am I even friends with you?” Emma asked.

“Because you loooove me,” Graham started making kissing sounds, and puckering his lips.

“Eww…Boys cooties.” Emma said and ran to the other side of the room where she collapsed in laughter. This was the very reason why she was friends with Graham. Why they had hit it off so well. They just matched.

“Also speak of the devil…” Graham said, and motioned to the door where Fiona was standing.

“Hi. What are you doing here?” Emma said, and walked to the door and kissed Fiona gently.

“I figured you’d be here. Since you are pretty much always here,” Fiona joked, “And I wanted to ask you out tonight. I know you and the gang have plans now, but I wondered if you wanted to go the Rumbling Dingoes show? They are playing at the old Warehouse.”

“I’d love to.” Emma said, and kissed Fiona softly.

“Good. Killian gave me back stage passes. This really just means that we can hang out back stage and get free stuff, but you know still back stage passes.”

“I already said I’m in, you don’t need to seduce me with fancy stuff you know...” Emma said mischievously.

“Oh trust me; you have seen nothing of my seduction skills yet.” She said with a wink, “I’ll pick you up at 7.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” Emma said, and blushed, “All of it.”

As the door closed, and Fiona left, Graham spoke, “Damn, that girl got some serious game.”

“Shut it, Gray.”

\--

“Hi, I’m going out. I shouldn’t be too late,” Emma said to her sister as she put on her jacket, and looked for her scarf in the hallway closet.

“Does dad know you are going out?”

“Of course. He said it was okay as long as I am home till eleven, and that I’ve done all my homework. Which I have,” Emma said, rather proudly. She had managed to do all of her algebra homework with minimal stress. The Monday mornings with Regina had really helped her, and if she continued this way, she might even get a B in the subject, which is a huge improvement from the D she currently had.

“Where are you going?”

“They are showing ‘Cinema Paradiso’ at the Box tonight,” Emma said with a smile, the Italian classic was one of her favorite movies. She still remembered the first time she saw it, and it was in many ways the reason why she loved classic movies so much.

“Are you taking Fiona?” Mary Margaret asked.

“No, I’m going with Regina.” Emma said, excited. She was looking forward to Regina seeing the movie, hoping she would like it as much as she did.

“Really?” Mary Margaret asked skeptically, and the tone in her voice really annoyed Emma. She loved her sister, but who she chose to go to the movies with was really none of her business.

“Seriously? First you complain that I am spending too much time with Fiona, despite the fact that we are dating, and you spend more time with James than I do with her. And now you are all concerned or something because I am taking Regina to a movie?” Her tone was harsh, probably harder than she intended.

“I just… I know how you feel about Regina. And then the added history of her and Fiona, I just..” Her sister said, more carefully, and Emma regretted the tone she’d used. She knew her sister was only looking out for her, but her thing with Regina was still so precious to her and it was just _theirs_. And her thing with Fiona was new and wonderful.

“Regina is one of my best friends, MM. I don’t know how it happened, but it did. So I am taking her to see a movie I think she would love. And I know for a fact that Fiona would hate it. She refuses to watch anything made prior to 1995 that isn’t animated. She hasn’t even seen the Breakfast Club, MM.”

That was the one thing about Fiona that truly annoyed Emma, but if that was the biggest thing, Emma was pretty sure she could live with it. It also meant that she didn’t really have to explain to Fiona why she loved The Box so much, and that somehow felt like a relief.

“Em…”

“I know what I am doing okay?” Emma said softly.

 “I know they have a history, even though no one except the two of them seems to know exactly what happened but neither one of them expect me to shut the other person out. They are even almost civil when they see each other now. Fiona gets that Regina is a part of my life, and Regina would never ask me to ditch Fiona because of their past. She isn’t like that.” 

Emma paused, “And whatever feelings I have or had for Regina are beside the point. We’re friends. Good friends. And I am super grateful for to her for letting me in as much as she has. So yeah, I am taking Regina to see a movie tonight.”

“I’m sorry, Em.”

“You don’t have to be. You just have to trust me on this. I won’t choose between them and neither one of them is asking me to.”

“I shouldn’t have said anything. I just…”

“I get it.” And Emma did, while the weeks since the Halloween dance had been great for her, it had been less so for her sister. James was growing distant and annoying, and there had been a few nights too many in Emma’s mind where she had found her sister on the couch with a pint of ice cream and a Rachel McAdams movie.

“You go have a nice time.” Mary Margaret said with a smile, and Emma smiled back.

“I will. Thank you.”

\--

“Any way you can just cancel Thanksgiving weekend?” Emma asked as she dramatically lay down on the couch in the student council room, it was the Tuesday before the break.

“I’m afraid that falls way out of my responsibilities. Anyway, I would have thought you’d love Thanksgiving? All that food and no school.”

“I do love Thanksgiving. Every other year,” Emma answered

“That was oddly specific. Why every other year?” Regina asked curiously.

“Because we alternate grandparents and while dad’s family is everything I ever wished for. Eva’s family is…not.”

“Eva?”

“Mary Margaret’s mom,” Emma said, a little sad, “I mean I understand why we have to go. It wouldn’t be fair to MM to lose that side of her family, along with her mom. But they really don’t like me.”

“Is it because of the…” Regina started, and then paused.

“The gay thing?” Emma suggested, “No. They don’t even know. They have never liked me.”

“Why?”

“The same reason they don’t really like dad. They feel like he married into money, and wasn’t worth Eva’s love or something. And then multiply that with me, who according to them is some sort of street rat who came to steal all their money.”

“Wow, I thought my family had issues,” Regina almost joked, “So that’s why you want me to cancel the whole thing?”

“Pretty much. I mean, MM’s grandparents are great. They never treated me any different, but her aunt and cousins? I can’t even…” Emma said, the anger seething in her voice. “Like I chose to be an orphan, like I planned any of this, as if a 10 year old can plan out a plan to take a family for all they are worth. They were all I ever wanted, and I didn’t care that they were rich. I cared that they wanted me.”

“Hey, Em,” Regina said carefully, using the abbreviated version of her name that Regina never used. “No matter what they might say to, or think about you. Remember that your family chose _you._ ”

“I know. And for that I will be forever grateful. Doesn’t mean I have to like the fact that I have to spend the weekend with those bigoted annoying rich folk.”

“Trust me, I know how you feel...” Regina started, “I think Thanksgiving is the only holiday where my entire family is together, and let’s just say they aren’t the coziest of people.”

There it was again, just that twinge of hurt and anger that always seemed to show up in Regina’s voice when she talked about her family. Emma felt like there was a story in there somewhere, something important. Possibly life changing, but if Regina wanted to keep it to herself. Emma would let her, because if it was one thing Emma Swan-Blanchard knew it was how important it was to keep some things to yourself. Especially things related to family.

“So I take it you aren’t looking forward to Thanksgiving weekend either?” Emma said, switching the topic from herself to Regina.

“It’s complicated,” Regina said, “At least my dad is coming home. I haven’t seen him in a very long time.”

“Are your parents divorced?” Emma asked, realizing that she has never really heard Regina talk about her dad in regards to her home life. It was always about what her mother wanted.

“No,” Regina said, “I mean, not technically at least. But seeing as my dad spends 10 months of the year in Europe, and my mother usually spends most of the 2 months Dad is home in New York…” she trailed off.

“I’m sorry...”

“Don’t be. It’s probably better this way,” Regina said, a little sadly. “I wish Dad was home more though. But I can’t complain. I really shouldn’t. Especially not to you.”

“Everyone is allowed to complain a little every once in a while. It’s healthy.” Emma said, “Besides I was the one who wanted you to cancel the entire thanksgiving weekend so I wouldn’t have to spend time with MM’s stupid family.”

“You have a point. That was rather selfish of you,” Regina said, causing Emma to smile widely.  “You really should think about other people sometimes.”

“Oh, shut up,” Emma said.

 


	16. Chapter 15

Emma moaned as she felt the touch of the other girl, her hand moving along her body, sending goose bumps down Emma’s spine. She ran her hands through the other girl’s hair, before pulling her down and capturing her lips and their tongues circled each other.  The two girls broke apart, and Emma opened her eyes and stared into the glorious brown eyes of Regina Mills.

 

“I need you.” Regina said, and Emma recaptured the brunette’s lips. Kissing them fiercely, passionately.  Almost protectively. Like she wanted to show Regina how much she meant, how much she was worth. Like it was more than a kiss, it was a promise.

 

“God Regina, this is so good.” Emma moaned as Regina’s hand circled around her breasts- Emma felt herself get wet between her legs. Emma recaptured Regina’s lips, missing the feeling of Regina’s mouth on her. Regina moaned into Emma’s mouth as Emma’s hands moved across the older woman’s back. She could feel every curve.

 

Regina’s mouth left hers, but before she had the chance to complain, Regina started kissing her neck, sucking, probably hard enough to leave a mark. The idea that Regina was branding her, only turned her on even more, and she moaned, “Please, Regina...”

 

Regina stopped, shifted so she again was hovering over the other girl. “What do you want?”

 

“You, only you. All of you.” Emma moaned, “Please.”

 

Regina smirked, “Then that is what you shall have.” Regina’s hand moved down her body, touching, stroking, making Emma go insane with anticipation. All she needed was Regina inside of her. She needed to feel her.

 

Regina’s hand found her panty line, playing with the line, teasing, before a hand found its way down, Regina’s eyes never left hers. She could see the gleam in those gorgeous brown eyes. Emma’s breathing increased, as her body was getting ready for what was coming. She felt her entire body tense as she felt…

 

“Emma! Get out of bed, we are going to be late!” The shrill voice of her older sister woke Emma with a bolt. Damn. First she realized where she was, and then the dream came back. The glorious not exactly G-rated dream, she had about a girl who was supposed to be just a friend.

 

Sure, it wasn’t the first sex dream she ever had about Regina. She had to admit that for a while there they had been rather frequent, but it was the first she’d had since she started dating Fiona. Weren’t her sex dreams supposed to be about the girl she is dating, not one of her best friends? Why couldn’t she get Regina out of her system? Why was it so hard?

 

Regina had made it perfectly clear that she was only interested in friendship when it came to Emma, yet Emma’s body kept doing this to her. She cursed herself, her stupid body. She also cursed her sister for waking her up at the worst time, and most of all she hated the fact that she didn’t have time to finish herself. A quick cold shower would have to be enough.

 

Stupid stupid teenage hormones. 

 

 

*******************************************************

 

 

“I have to talk to you. Like now.”  Emma grabbed her best friend the minute she saw her walk out of her classroom. She had come to school completely ready to face Regina. I mean it had only been a dream right? And it was not even the first time it happened. She had texted Regina to say that she was running late, and wouldn’t have time to meet her that morning as they usually do on Monday, which was partly true as she had overslept, and partly because she didn’t feel like facing Regina with the dream still so fresh in her mind.

 

Then Fiona showed up early, even if she had first period free, just because she had wanted to see Emma. Fiona had walked her to class, kissed her goodbye and said that she would see her after school, and Emma had spent the entirety of first period freaking out.

 

It wasn’t like she had cheated on her. I mean you can’t choose your dreams, if you could Emma would make damn sure she never had to dream about that creepy clown who looked at her really inappropriately when she was 7 and the group home had gone to the circus. 

 

“What, Em? Is there something wrong?” Ruby said, as they walked towards the room that usually was designated for club meetings. Knowing that that classroom always stood empty on Monday’s, Emma and Ruby sat down and locked the door. 

 

“Yes, I mean no.” Emma sighed, “It’s just...”

 

“Spill it, Em.” Ruby said, “Come on. It’s me.”

 

“I had a dream about Regina last night…” Emma said.

 

“You mean a dirty kind of dream?” Ruby said, and almost laughed.

 

“It’s not funny. I’m supposed to be dating Fiona. I am trying so hard to get over Regina, but how on God’s earth am I supposed to do that if she keeps showing up in my dreams?”

 

“Showing up in your dreams and seducing you?” Ruby teased, “Come on, Em. It’s not that big of a deal. So you are still attracted to Regina. I could have told you that. That’s not the point. The point is that you are moving forward...”

 

“I felt so guilty when Fiona kissed me this morning, I couldn’t think of anything else for all of first period. And we both know I have to pay attention in Algebra.  I know that technically I didn’t do anything wrong, but it still feels wrong.”

 

“Oh, Em.” Ruby said, and took her best friends hand, “I know that will always feel like you aren’t good enough. That everything you do is wrong, maybe especially the things you can’t control. But trust me. This has happened to all of us.”

 

“Really?” Emma said, and looked at her best friend.  Most of the time, Emma knew she would be lost with Ruby. Sure, she had a safe home now, a family that loved her. But there were still so many insecurities in her. So many parts of her that screamed that she was doomed to mess up. That people would always leave. That she would never be good enough.

 

“I dreamt about Justin Fareell just last week.” Ruby said.

 

“Your ex, Justin?” Emma asked.

 

“Yeah. He was a great kisser. That doesn’t mean that I don’t think Peter is a good kisser, nor does it mean that I am still hung up on Justin. It just means that my body remembers that Justin was a good kisser.”

 

“This is why you are my best friend you know?” Emma said, and gently squeezed Ruby’s hand.

 

“Because I have dirty dreams about my exes?” Ruby joked.

 

“No…” Emma laughed, “Because you can always talk me down from a ledge. No matter how stupid said ledge is. I really don’t know what I would do without you.”

 

“Obviously crash and burn.” Ruby said, “There is really no other outcome.”

 

“Idiot.” Emma said, and smacked Ruby with her free hand, not actually letting go of the other.

 

“That’s why you love me.”

 

“Yeah, it is.” Emma pulled Ruby into a hug, “It really is.”

 

The two girls broke apart, “So are you ready to face the world again without freaking out?”

 

“I think so.” Emma said with a smile, while she moved towards the door and unlocked it. She opened the door and walked as only she could straight into Regina.

 

“Ow,” Regina winced as their bodies collided, and seeing as it was far from the first time it happened, Emma noticed the unusual wincing. She looked at the older girl and noticed a bruised along her collarbone. She also looked more exhausted than usual.

 

“What happened to you?” Emma was worried. Regina was usually so pristine. Now she looked like she hadn’t slept since before Thanksgiving. Everything that Emma had worried about when it came to seeing Regina just disappears, and now she wishes she hadn’t cancelled that morning.

 

Her eyes were red, and Emma was sure that she could see a bruise forming in her face, in addition to the one on her collarbone. If Emma hadn’t known better, she would have guessed that Regina had been in a fight.

 

“It’s nothing,” Regina fidgeted, “I went riding over Thanksgiving weekend, and something spooked Rocinante, and he threw me off. I landed really badly, on a bunch of rocks. I’m going to be fine.” Regina gave Emma a strained smile.

 

“Regina…” Emma said, not sure she believed Regina, but knowing that she probably wouldn’t get the real story. Whatever that might be.

 

“I’m fine. Trust me, this isn’t the first time this happened, and I am pretty sure it won’t be the last. I’ll heal. I always do.”

 

Emma still wasn’t convinced, something didn’t seem right, but she decided to let it go. Maybe she really did fall of her horse, what did Emma know? She had barely seen a horse, let alone fallen off one.

 

“If you say so.” Emma said, “And I am sorry for cancelling on you this morning. I totally overslept.”

 

“It’s fine.” Regina said with a smile, “I had some other stuff I had to take care of regarding the dance anyway.”

 

“Oh, did you go shopping for the stuff we need for the decorations?” Ruby asked excitedly. With the dance less than 3 weeks away, the final preparations were in full swing. The battle of the bands weas that Friday, the food and drinks had all been ordered and paid for thanks to the raffle tickets sold at Halloween.

 

“Yes, I did. So if you two could come by the office after the GSA on Tuesday so we can start making them that would be great.”

 

“Yes!” Ruby exclaimed, Ruby loved arts and crafts to Emma’s wild amusement. She had never figured her best friend to be the DIY type, but as it turns out Ruby loved that sort of thing. “Also I am bringing Peter. He said he would love to help out with this stuff, but really I think it’s just an excuse to get to hang out with me more, since Grams has been kinda strict about everything lately.”

 

“The more the merrier. Really.” Regina said, “I mean the fact that there are barely any of us on the committee to begin with, and you two weren’t even supposed to go.”

 

“Well, thankfully Emma and I learned that dating older people is the way to go.” Ruby joked, “I mean, it would have been a shame to miss out on all of that fun.”

 

“You know Fiona hasn’t actually asked me to the dance yet, right?” Emma asked, “I mean I could still end up not going.”

 

“Oh come on, Em. We both know she is going to ask you.” Ruby said, and winked.

 

“Things are going well between you and Fiona then?” Regina asked, and Emma was surprised at the question. She and Regina had reached a point where Regina acknowledged that Fiona was someone important to Emma, but they didn’t talk about it. At all.

 

“Yeah,” She answered tentatively, still unsure about how to handle this situation. “It’s going really good.”

 

“So you’re happy?” Regina asked, which just added to Emma’s confusion. Where was all of this coming from?

 

“Yes. I am. More so than I thought.” She answered honestly. Fiona has given her so much more than she had expected. It was nice to be wanted, and maybe more importantly to want back. Whatever residual feelings she still had for Regina didn’t change the fact that the thing between her and Fiona was absolutely wonderful, new and exciting.

 

It was the thing she had only dreamt about. Someone she could possibly end up loving someday. She was dating an actual girl, something that just 6 months had been nothing but a distant dream.                                

 

“Good. You both deserve it.” Regina said, “I really mean that.”

 

 

****************************************************************

 

 

Emma opened the door to a sight that quite frankly had become almost natural to her, Mary Margaret and Graham sitting in front of the living room TV watching some sort of sci-fi show that Graham insisted was necessary for any self-proclaimed geek. Ever since the Halloween Dance, and Graham’s absolute awe at Mary Margaret’s costume, these viewings had become a weekly occurrence. Usually on Thursdays, sometimes even Fridays and Saturdays despite that those days used to be dedicated entirely to dates and parties since Mary Margaret turned 15.

 

Emma could tell they were watching Fringe, because she recognized Joshua Jackson, who had stolen her little pre-teen heart as Pacey. She had tried to watch it with them last week, but she had gotten lost at “He’s from the alternative universe that’s why he glows,” so she had just left them to it and went up to her room and Netflix’ed on her own. At least her head wouldn’t have to try to understand alternative universes. She still didn’t quite understand how LOST ended.

 

“Hi, I’m home,”  Emma said, and closed the door. She could tell that someone pushed the pause button.

 

“Hi, Emma. How was movie?” Mary Margaret asked as she walked into the living room. “It was fine. Nothing special, but you know, I enjoyed it.”

 

“How’s the gang?” Graham asked, “You know you could have asked me to come. I feel left out when you guys go out without me.”

 

“Yeah, I can tell how absolutely sad you are. Here. With my sister.” Emma said almost teasing. She knew how Graham felt about her sister. It was obvious in everything he did these days. She just wished her sister would wise up, dump David, and just get together with Graham already.

 

“Well, your sister is better company than you anyway. Also we have Fringe, which is undoubtedly better than anything you girls went to see. Without me.” Graham snarked back.

 

Instead of answering, Emma turned to her sister. “Is there any food left? I’m starving. I didn’t get the chance to eat anything before the movie.” Emma chose not to disclose why she had almost been late to the movie. It wasn’t really her fault that she lost all track of time when she was with Fiona. Especially if she was kissing her. They have gotten closer. Their make out sessions more intense.

 

It was actually freaking Emma out a little. She knew that Fiona was more experienced in that area than she was. Everyone had heard the rumors about Fiona and Katie getting caught having sex by Mrs. Drake in the girls locker room last year. It wasn’t too farfetched to believe that maybe Fiona would want more. Maybe even soon.

 

Emma shook the thought from her mind. She really shouldn’t be thinking about this now. She should just talk to Fiona about it. Tell her that she wasn’t ready for that yet.

 

“Actually yes. There should be some pasta in the fridge. Dad is out, so it was just me and Graham.”

 

“Where is dad?” Emma asked, their dad was never out at this time of night.

 

“I think he might have a date.”

 

“What, with who?” Emma exclaimed, “But dad never goes on dates. I can’t remember him every going out with anyone. Ever.”

 

“I don’t know. He didn’t really say. And I chose not to pry. If it is something serious, he’ll tell us. Just relax. Eat some pasta. Go to bed.” Mary Margaret said, “You have an early day tomorrow.”

 

“I know.” Emma sighed, “Goodnight you two.” Emma said as she walked into the kitchen, grabbed the pasta, and went up to her room.

 

 

 *********************************************************************

 

 

“Do you want to grab some frozen yogurt or something before I drive you home?” Fiona asked as they walked through the mall, Fiona was carrying 6 bags filled with clothes while Emma had brought a pair of jeans, a dress for Christmas, and she had found the Iron Man comic where Hawkeye made his first appearance for Graham’s Christmas gift. She was actually kind of proud of that one.

 

“Yes. I would love to.” Emma said, and leaned in and gave Fiona a peck. She didn’t even think twice about kissing the other girl in public anymore. Maybe she should, but she didn’t.

 

“Do you want to go to the one opposite the movies or the one on Mifflin Street?” Fiona asked as they exited the mall.

 

“Actually, I think I might want a milkshake instead. Would you mind if we went to Granny’s instead?” Emma flashed her brightest smile, knowing that Fiona wouldn’t say no to it.

 

“Of course not, it’s just around the corner too. Besides, you get the family discount.” Fiona said with a wink.

 

“Emma!” Emma heard someone call her name and turned around to find Mary Margaret’s five-year-old cousin, Philip. While Emma despises his mother, she couldn’t help but love the little guy who knew no difference between her and her sister as she had been adopted before he’d been born.

 

“Hi, Philip. What are you doing here?” Emma asked the little boy, hoping that it was his dad that had brought him today.

 

“Momma and I have been shopping for Christmas.” Alas, no such luck. So Jessica was around here somewhere. Maybe she would be lucky enough not to run into her. The day had been going so well and everything. She had spent her entire Saturday with Fiona. They had gone to see Fiona’s little sister Sasha perform at her school, then gotten lunch and spent the rest of the day shopping at the mall.

 

But just as the thought had left Emma’s mind, she could hear Jessica calling out for Philip. And before she had the chance to grab Fiona and run as fast as she could, the woman came into view. “Oh, there you are. You know you shouldn’t run away like that.”

 

“I just wanted to say hi to Emma.” Philip said innocently, and Emma selfishly wished the boy could stay that young and sweet, and without the prejudices of his mother.

 

“Oh. Emma. Hello. I didn’t see you there.” Jessica said, and Emma could hear the disdain in her voice. Sometimes she wanted to slap the woman.

 

“Hello, Jessica. Nice to see you.” Emma said with as much friendliness as she could muster, “But we should really get going.” Emma gestured to Fiona, who smiled.

 

“I see, well, aren’t you going to introduce us first?” Jessica asked, and now Emma really wanted to slap her. She really couldn’t stand that woman.

 

“Of course,” Emma said, and waived Fiona over. “This is Fiona Moreno. She is my...” Emma started. Should she say girlfriend? Was Fiona even her girl friend? Did Jessica need to know that Fiona was maybe-possibly her girlfriend? It would for sure wipe that stupid smile of her face.

 

“I’m her girlfriend.” Fiona said, and at least that answered that question. Emma couldn’t really help but smile. Fiona Moreno was her _girlfriend._

 

“She is your… you are...” Jessica struggled to form a proper sentence and Emma wanted to laugh at her. Under normal circumstances the idea of coming out to someone as homophobic as her would be the last thing she would want, but she really didn’t care what Jessica thought about her. If she was lucky, she wouldn’t have to see the woman for another two years anyway.

 

“Yes. I am. And Fiona, this is Jessica White, my sister’s aunt. It seems like the cat got her tongue,” Emma said with snark, and leaned down to say goodbye to Philip. “Have a good day, Philip.” Emma said and hugged him, “And you too, Jessica. As soon as you pick your jaw up off the ground there.”

 

The two girls walked away, and walked the short distance to Granny’s. Fiona didn’t say a word and Emma wondered if she had said something. Or if her handling of Jessica had freaked her out. They walked into Granny’s, Emma gestured to Gus, he smiled, nodded, and the two girls sat down in what Emma had come to call “her” booth in the very end of the diner.

 

“Did I say something wrong?” Emma finally asked as they settled down in the booth, “I probably shouldn’t have talked that way to Jessica but I don’t like her, and she doesn’t like me.”

 

“No. I’m just... Should I not have said that I was your girlfriend?  I didn’t mean to out to you to someone who it really seemed you would prefer not to know your business.” Fiona said, and Emma took a relieved breath. Fiona was so sensitive to her feelings, and how new she was to all of this.

 

“Are you my girlfriend?” Emma asked, and smiled.

 

“I hope so. I mean, I want you to be.” Fiona said, and Emma could swear that she could see Fiona blush, something that was a completely new thing. Fiona was always so self-assured about everything.

 

“Then you said nothing wrong. I don’t care if Jessica knows that I am in a relationship with you.  I really don’t care much about her at all. And also, yes. You are my girlfriend.” Emma said, leaned over the table and kissed Fiona fiercely.

 

“Now, let’s get Gus over here so we can get our milkshake on.” Emma said, causing Fiona to laugh. And Emma had to admit her life was pretty darn amazing right now.

 

 

************************************************************************

 

 

Fiona gently pushed Emma until her back was against the bed, and the brunette was hovering over her. Emma wasn't even quite sure how they had ended up like this. It had seemed casual and easy enough just inviting Fiona up to her bedroom so they could watch a movie without the prying eyes of Emma's father.

 

But the movie was long forgotten, and Fiona ran her hands down Emma’s arms, to her wrists and brought them above her head; she then trailed her hands back down, to her sides, as they stared intently into each other’s eyes. Emma was, not for the first time, taken aback by her girlfriend’s incredible beauty, the way her curls framed her face, and the sparkle in her eyes.

 

The brunette leaned down, capturing Emma’s lips and the blonde fervently kissed her back. They had made out before, but this felt different to Emma. There was a hunger in the way Fiona was kissing her, and Emma felt it too.

 

Their tongues circled each other, exploring until Fiona pulled back, nipping at Emma’s bottom lip.  Emma moaned at the action, which only seemed to spur Fiona on more. The brunette’s hands travelled to the hem of Emma’s shirt and beneath the fabric causing her breath to hitch and goose bumps to erupt everywhere the other girl touched.

 

Fiona stopped just below Emma’s bra, and ran her thumbs along the brunette’s ribs. After trailing kisses along Emma’s jaw and down her neck, Fiona’s hand started inching up, running along the smooth fabric of Emma’s bra.

 

“We have to stop.” Emma said, reaching down to still the brunette’s hands. Fiona quickly removed her hands and jumped to the other side of the bed. “I’m sorry.”

 

“Don’t be sorry,” Emma said, reaching out for Fiona’s hand, “We’re just – I’m just...” Emma sighed, running her free hand through her hair.  “It’s okay,” Fiona said, “Sometimes I forget how new you are to all of this. I didn’t mean to push you.”

 

“I’m just not...” Emma sighed.

 

“Not ready.” Fiona finished. “And that’s alright. I would never push you into something you aren’t ready for. I hope you know that. I don’t need, I mean we don’t have to have sex.”

 

“It’s just… I’m still... I mean, I haven’t..” Emma stumbled on her words, and it wasn’t that she didn’t want to sleep with Fiona. She really liked her, and she was gorgeous and everything. She just wasn’t ready for that step.

 

“I get it.” Fiona smiled, leaned over and kissed Emma gently. “There is no rush. We can do this your speed.”

 

“That doesn’t mean we can’t still make out though.” Emma said with a grin, and pushed Fiona back down on the bed before attacking her mouth feverishly.

 

 

***********************************************************************

 

 

It was the Monday before the big dance, and Emma was starting the get worried about Fiona asking her. While she had originally not even thought she would go to this dance, she didn’t think she would have a date that was old enough to take her. She didn’t actually think she would be dating anyone at all. With her mind being on Regina and Regina only and all, but now she had an actual girlfriend. An actual senior girlfriend. And all of this planning the dance, seeing how all of it comes together, making the decorations, choosing the bans. Now she really wanted to be able to enjoy the labor of her hard work. She wanted to go to the dance dammit.

 

Regina had even brought it up again this morning when they were going over Emma’s algebra homework, asking if they had brought their tickets yet because Regina offered to get them free ones, since Emma was on the committee after all.  Why hadn’t she asked her yet?

 

Just then, her phone let her know that she had a new text from Fiona.

 

“Can you meet me at your locker, I think I left my history book in there.”

 

Emma walked over to her locker, where she saw Fiona standing. “I’m so sorry. I have looked everywhere else for it, and then I remembered that I left it there last Friday because I didn’t want to walk back to my own locker.”

 

“It’s fine.” Emma said, and it really was. But she was really bummed out that Fiona hadn’t asked her yet.

 

So she opened her locker, and in it was two Barbie dolls who looked somewhat liked them, with a speech bubble saying, “Will you go to the Winter Dance with me?”

 

“Fiona!” Emma said, and almost jumped up. Not was Fiona just asking her out, but she had done it the same way that Ashley asked Spencer to prom on South of Nowhere. She leaned in and kissed her fiercely.

 

“So is that a yes?” Fiona asked and winked.

 

“Of course it’s a yes. I would love love love to go the dance with you.” Emma said, before kissing her again.

 

“Come on, let’s go and get a hot cocoa at Granny’s. It’s freezing outside, and I want something sweet and tasty,” Fiona said, and winked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're almost at the end now. Only a couple of more chapters to go of part 1 :)


	17. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Relationships break, hearts are healing, and maybe something happen?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is way to short, took way to long, and also unbeta'ed as I spent so much time on it, my beta ended up being busier with far more important things. And I am so sorry. There are only two chapters left in part 1, and I am sorry this has taken me over two years to get here. So I am gonna ask. I'm gonna try to 20,000 words of this fic series for NaNoWriMo, but would you want me to wait until I have atleast 10+ chapters of the sequel before starting to post it, or would you rather have this stupid ass update whenever i have time schedule?

Emma had a terrible feeling in her stomach. She had it all day, and the fact that Fiona has been avoiding her hadn’t helped it much. She could tell that something was wrong. Emma did pride herself on having a great gut.

She walked towards the little outdoor area that the school had, where Fiona texted her, asking her to meet. It was a little out of the way, and seeing as it was December and cold, it would probably be abandoned.

Emma loved winter, she especially loved the snow. As she was looking around for Fiona, she couldn’t help but be amazed by the snow covered trees and the snow on the ground. Emma had always loved winter, because it covered the flaws and left everything blank. She loved the cold, she loved everything about winter.

“Hi…” Emma heard Fiona’s voice behind her, she had been so wrapped up in her thoughts and the beauty around her that she hadn’t heard the footsteps.

“Hi.” Emma answered nervously. There was no way this conversation would have a happy ending.

“We need to talk.” Fiona said, and every worry Emma had felt confirmed. Fiona was breaking up with her. She just _knew_.

“You are breaking up with me, aren’t you?” Emma said, trying to keep her voice strong, but she fell slightly short.

“It’s complicated.” Fiona said, and Emma could tell the girl was somewhat conflicted, and Emma realized what this was about. Maybe she should have known all along, yet somehow she didn’t. But the look on Fiona’s told her everything. This was about Katie. She should have known.

“It’s Katie, isn’t it?” Fiona asked, hoping she was wrong. Everyone had warned her about it. But she hadn’t cared, because she really liked Fiona. And she just wanted _someone_. She wanted to feel like what she was, what she wanted, was normal. She didn’t want to be alone.

“Yes.” Fiona confirmed barely above a whisper.

“So, this is it then? You are dumping me for your ex-girlfriend?” Emma said the anger viable in her voice. She felt betrayed.

“It’s complicated,” Fiona said again. “It’s always complicated with her. I love her, Emma. I have loved her for such a long time. I owe it to us, to her, to whatever we have to give it one more chance.”

“I won’t say that it’s okay, or that I understand. But I won’t argue with you. I can tell that your mind is made up.” Emma said, resigned now. She knew she couldn’t compete with Katie. She never could. Maybe she wasn’t supposed to. It didn’t really matter now anyway.

“I really do care about you, Emma.” Fiona says.

“Just not enough, right?” Emma said, and her heart broke. Because she had heard that so many times. From foster parents who had to send her away, from social workers, from so many people, so many times.

“I’m so sorry, Emma. I never intended for any of this to happen.” Fiona said, and Emma could tell that she meant it. But it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered right now.

“That doesn’t make it hurt any less now, does it?” Emma said, the tears treating to fall from her eyes.

“I guess not.” Fiona said leaned in and kissed Emma’s cheek.

“Goodbye, Emma.” Fiona said, before leaving Emma standing there alone.

 

\--

She was crying. Emma Swan-Blanchard was hiding in a classroom crying, because of a stupid girl. Emma didn’t think she was that girl, turns out that she was exactly that girl. Emma didn’t know if that made her angrier than the fact that Fiona broke up with her the day before the dance.

No, no. She was absolutely more pissed at the fact that Fiona had broken up with he, despite the fact that she had actually really wanted to go to that dance. She had pretended that she didn’t care, but she did. She had wanted to go to that dance, she had worked hard. Sure, she had originally joined to be closer to Regina, but she soon realized she actually like everything. She liked working with Ruby, Graham and Regina. It felt good to be a part of something.

Why did Fiona have to break up with her today? Sure she would have preferred if Fiona hadn’t broken up with her at all, but she could at least have waited until Monday. She was so wrapped up in her own sadness that she didn’t hear someone entering.

“Hi…” She heard the voice she didn’t know she wanted to hear.

“Hi, Graham,” Emma said and wiped her eyes, “What are you doing here?”

“I came looking for you of course.” He said brightly, “You know how news travels at this school.”

Emma did know that. She was pretty sure everyone knew that she and Fiona had broken up. After all, it hadn’t been that many months since she and Ruby had been gossiping about the breakup of Fiona and Katie. Actually it wasn’t that many months since Graham had last found her, crying over a girl. Emma assumed some things would always stay the same.

“How is it you always seem to be here when my heart breaks?” Emma said, trying to joke, but knowing the joke fell flat.

“Are you okay?” Graham asks, and pulls up a chair and sits next to Emma.

“I feel stupid, and kind of heartbroken.” Emma said honestly, “I mean everyone warned me about her. That she would leave. That she and Katie would find their way back. But I didn’t listen, and I really liked her, you know?”

“I know.” Graham said earnestly, “I know. But none of this is your fault.”

“Then why do I feel like this?”

“Because you’re sad. And you feel like you should have known, but you couldn’t. Fiona gave up no reason not to trust her.” Graham said, and Emma could tell he was talking from experience, and she once again wondered what really happened between him and Regina.

“Also I really wanted to go to that dance…” Emma said, trying to change where the conversation was going. She wasn’t sure she was ready to look back on her relationship with Fiona to determine whether or not Fiona actually gave her a reason not to believe.

“You should come with me…” Graham said with a massive smile, “Come on, Em. We’ll have so much fun.”

“Seriously? You want to take me? Don’t you want to take a girl you actually have a chance with?”

“You know very well that I am only interested in one girl, and no one else seem to matter right now. I don’t want to take a girl, and get her hopes up. You’re perfect.” Graham said, still grinning.

“I’m sorry my sister is such an asshat, Gray.” Emma said and squeezed Graham’s hand, “And yeah. I’ll go with you. We will rule that dance won’t we?”

“Totally. There is no doubt we’ll be the hottest people there.”

“I am beginning to think I have a bad influence on you.” Emma joked.

“Tell me about it.” Graham laughed, “Regina has been saying that since the beginning.”

“I’m hurt.” Emma said grumpily, before breaking out a grin. And she realized just how happy she was that Graham found her. He had found a way of cheering her up that never failed, and they had a connection that made her heart swell.

“Come on.” Graham said, and dragged Emma towards the door.

“Where are we going?” Emma asked.

“We’re going to get ice cream, maybe even go to that great place you love which takes forever to get to.” He paused, and smiled. “You should wallow, and I could wallow with you.”

“Thank you.” Emma said, and hugged him.

“What are friends for?” Graham said, and as the two of them left, Emma felt happy and at place for the first time that day.

\--

Emma was lying sprayed out on her bed, listening to every sad song she had ever downloaded as that is after all the only way to deal with a break up. The ice cream and talk with Graham had helped, but she was allowed to wallow. She was staring up in the ceiling when she heard the phone ring. She looked at the display and saw that it was Regina.

“Hi...” Emma answered the phone, glad that Regina had called.

“Hi. I heard what happened…” Regina said carefully, and Emma could tell that Regina was sorry. Which surprised her, Regina had been cold in regards to her relationship with Fiona at best.

“I assume you didn’t call just to tell me ‘I told you so’, because I am feeling stupid enough as it is.” Emma said sadly. Everyone had told her that Fiona would get back together with Katie, but for some reason she hadn’t believed it. She wanted it so badly not to be true.

“I wouldn’t do that. I am sorry that I was right. I called to make sure you were okay.”

“I just feel so stupid.” Emma said, while talking to Graham earlier had helped, she still felt so stupid, “Everyone told me this would happen, but I started to care about her anyway. I really liked her, Regina.”

“You are not stupid.”

“Really?” Emma said sarcastically.

“Really. You liked her. She liked you. You dated. She broke up with you.” Regina said, “Most high school relationships go like that. Some last, but most don’t.”

“Somehow that makes me feel both better and worse.”

“I seem to have that effect on you.” Regina laughed, and Emma had to admit that that sound was still the most beautiful thing she had ever heard.

“But really, Emma. You did nothing wrong here, and if anyone should feel bad it should be Fiona. If she believed that she would get back together with Katie, she shouldn’t have let you on.”

“I get that. But she was my first real girlfriend; I should be allowed to mope.” Emma said, “And who breaks up with someone the day before a big dance?”

“I know you were looking forward to going, if you still want to, you can be my date?” Regina asked, and Emma’s heart stopped. What was going on? Why did Regina ask her that? Her mind worked a million miles a minute, before she realized that Regina was probably just being nice.

Regina was a senior and therefore she was allowed to bring a date from any of the classes if she wanted to. She asked for the same reason Graham did. Because she knew that Emma had looked forward to this dance, despite pretending not to care.

But still Regina asked her, Regina asked her out. Regina had never asked her out before. Not even as friends, it was always Emma that asked her, or Graham, or Ruby or even Mary Margaret. Regina had never taken the first move before. Had something changed?

She didn’t want to deal with her conflicting feelings about Regina right now; her head was too busy dealing with getting dumped.

“Graham already asked.” She said instead, there was no reason to make this awkward. While she would love to go with Regina, going with Graham was easier. She didn’t _like_ Graham.

“Oh, so you are still going then?” Regina said, and Emma could almost swear that she sounded disappointed, but she just pushed to the back of her mind. She really didn’t want to deal with this now. No, she was too tired and sad, and messed up inside right now.

“Yeah. I really wanted to go, and Graham realized that so he asked. Especially since the girl he really wants to go with, is going with her asshat of her boyfriend.”

“He is going to wait for her, you know?” Regina asked, “That’s the kind of guy he is.”

“I am starting to realize that.” Emma said, “I just wish my sister would realize it. She should be with someone like him. Someone good.”

“Graham deserves happiness...” Regina said sadly, and Emma wondered again what had happened between them. The little both of them had told her didn’t really tell her much. Regina didn’t want to talk about it, and Emma could tell the entire thing was still a little bit of a sore suspect for Graham.

“We all do.” Emma said, and smiled sadly. “Don’t we?”

“Probably. Doesn’t mean it’s going to happen though, does it?” Regina said, and Emma’s heart broke for her. She didn’t know what was going on inside Regina’s head, but she was starting to realize that whatever it was went deeper than anyone could see from the outside.

“Let’s talk about something else, please?” Emma said instead of trying to analyze the problems that Regina might or might not have. Today had been heavy enough as it was.

“Of course.” Regina said, and as Emma settled underneath her covers talking with Regina, she couldn’t help to think that this is how it should be. And that scared her endlessly.


	18. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We are almost at the end now, only this and one other chapter to go. In this chapter, the winter dance is happening, hearts are broken, and maybe something new is happening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this took forever. I have little excuse besides the fact that school is killing me. I am now working on my masters, and writing something more after writing 20,000 words in three weeks for academic papers was just not on my mind. That said, this is the second to last chapter, and I hope to get the last chapter up soon. I also plan on having a good ten chapters written on the sequel before posting it, so the wait time won't be as bad.

“Wow, Emma... You look amazing. » Mary Margaret said as she walked into Emma’s room. Emma was wearing a dark navy blue halter-neck dress, and her hair was curled in her signature curls.

“I know.” Emma said as she looked in the mirror. She had been planning this look for weeks. She wanted to be breathtaking, and beautiful. She had wanted this night to be special. And now, without Fiona, she needed it even more.

“You are sure you want to go? I mean…” Mary Margaret asked, obviously concerned about her little sister.

“Yes.” Emma said, almost forcefully. “I really want this. Also my life isn’t over just because my girlfriend broke up with me. I was looking forward to this dance, and now I am going. Besides I’ll have the hottest date there.”

“If you are sure…” Mary Margaret said, “You know I am just looking out for you, right?”

“I know. And I love you for it.” Emma said, and moved to hug her sister, that’s when she noticed that her sister wasn’t dressed yet. “Wait, why aren’t you dressed yet?”

“I’m not sure I’m going…” Mary Margaret said, “James and I had a fight. Again.”

“Come on. You have to go. You are a shoe in for Snow Queen.” Emma said, annoyed that her sister’s boyfriend seem to have no regards for her sister’s feelings. Again. “This is your last Snow Ball. You know you want to go. Screw James. Or maybe he’ll show up, and surprise you. Let’s just get you dressed.”

“Fine.” Mary Margaret conceded.

“Yay!” Emma said in a tone way more giddy than she has ever used before, surprising both herself and her sister.  “Yeah, I’m never saying that again.”

Mary Margaret laughed, and the two girls walked into the other bedroom. It took longer than Emma would have liked, but they got her ready. Mary Margret was wearing a strapless white dress with a black belt that made her look amazing. Just as Mary Margaret was putting the final touches on her make-up, they heard the doorbell ring.

Emma walked down the stairs to see, to her surprise, James standing there with flowers and an apoplectic look on his face. He was dressed to the nines, and for the first time Emma could remember, he didn’t look like a total sleaze ball. 

“So you showed up then?” Emma said in an accusing voice.

“Of course I did, why wouldn’t I?” And there it was. That condescending sleaze ball Emma had come to hate.

“She didn’t think you would. Apparently you had a fight, _again._ ”

“That’s why I am here. To apologize. I overreacted.” James said, and Emma almost believed him. But it wasn’t up to her to forgive him; she had no input on this. That much had been made clear over the last couple of months.

And seeing as she had been dumped the day before, maybe she wasn’t the one to pass judgment on other people’s relationship. She had been blind, and foolish, and should have seen that Fiona was still stuck up on Katie, but she refused to. She didn’t want to believe.

“I’ll go tell her you are here...” Emma said, turning around and heading back upstairs, instead of saying something she would most likely regret. Emma _hated_ James. Emma had hated James long before he cheated on her best friend. But it wasn’t about her. It was about her sister. And her sister was old enough to make her own choices.

“So, James showed up.:” Emma said when she reached her sister’s bedroom. Her tone of voice was about as enthusiastic as she felt. And Emma felt a pang in her heart when a huge smile appeared on her sister’s heart.

“Don’t give me that look.” Mary Margaret said.

“What look?” Emma said, actually unaware she was giving her sister any look what so ever. But then again, she always seemed to have this look of slight distain when talking about James. She couldn’t even help herself anymore.

“That look.” Mary Margaret said, “The look you always get when talking about James. I know that you can’t stand him, but I love him. So please just for me?”

“You love him?” That was the first Emma had heard about that. She knew it was serious, more than it had been at least, but for her sister to say that she loved someone, it took a lot. Despite being outgoing and social, and had dated her share of boys, she had said she loved only one other boy, the first one. Her sister didn’t love easily; it was strangely enough something they had in common.

“Yeah, I do. Let’s just say it took me by surprise to. But he did something to my heart I didn’t expect. He isn’t that bad of a guy, he can be sweet and caring. He just doesn’t like to show it to the world.” Mary Margaret said.

“All I want is for you to be happy.” Emma said, “And you seem happy now, so I’m going to let it be.”

“Really?” Mary Margaret seemed skeptical, and Emma couldn’t blame her. It wasn’t the first time Emma has promised to stay out of her sister’s relationship only to butt in the next day. But Emma was really trying to be better. All she wanted was for her sister to happy, just as she wanted herself to be happy. It wasn’t really her fault that she believed that her sister would be the happiest with Graham. The fact that it would make one of her best friends truly happy was only an added bonus after all.

“Well, at least for a week. Maybe even for the rest of the year, if I am feeling kind.” Emma joked. After all, she shouldn’t make promises she probably wouldn’t be able to keep.

“That’s something.” Mary Margaret smiled, and moved to hug her sister just as they heard the doorbell ring.

“This time it better be _my_ knight in shining armor.” Emma said and left the room, leaving her sister’s hug hanging in the air. Emma could swear she heard her sister mutter, “That girl will be the death of me, “as she left. It only made her smile even more.

Emma just looked at James, and said a brief, “She’ll be right down,” before opening the door and seeing Graham, and he really looked like the knight in shining armor he could be. He was dressed to the nines and he looked more handsome than Emma had ever seen him.  Emma hugged him.

“You look so good.” Emma said when they broke apart, “And I mean that sincerely.”

“Thank you.” Graham said, and smiled. “You look pretty good yourself, if I am allowed to say that.”

“Of course I do. Did you expect anything else?” Emma said.

“Of course not.” Graham said, “So you ready to go?”

“Dad wants pictures. Dad always wants pictures.” Emma said, and sighed. She’d rather this event not be one for the photo albums. She may look good, and she wants to go to this dance, and she doesn’t mind going with Graham, but despite what she told Mary Margaret she was still upset that Fiona had broken up with her, and that she isn’t going with someone who she is attracted to.

Emma tries best to not show Graham how she feels, but he has become adept at reading her way faster than anyone else ever had, “Look, Emma. I get that you wish you were going to this thing with someone else, and that is fine. Maybe I do too.” He said as he looked wistfully towards the stairs were Mary Margaret was standing. “But you worked your ass off to make sure this dance would be amazing, and you deserve a night that is yours.”

“You’re right.” She said, and smiled. “This is our night. We look amazing, and we are going to take the dance by storm. This is the night.”

“This is the night.”

* * *

 

“Okay, this looks even better than I imagined” Emma said as she and Graham walked into the gym, which had been turned into the most beautiful winter wonderland that Emma had ever seen. The lighting and the decorations looked so beautiful.  The windows were frosted, and there was fake snow and blue lighting. Emma had seen the concept art, and she had helped make the decorations. However, this was far more amazing than she could ever have imagined.

“Regina did a really good job.” Graham said, and smiled.

“She certainly did. Not that I ever doubted her.” Emma said wistfully.

“No. I have a feeling you never would.” Graham said, jokingly.

“Oh, shut up!” Emma said, and punched his arm. “Like you don’t believe my sister walks on clouds or something.”

“Point taken. And speaking of the devil...” Graham said, and pointed towards the other side of the room where Regina was standing in a glorious satin red dress that made her look absolutely breathtaking. Emma had never seen anything as beautiful as Regina was in that moment.

“Woah.” Emma breathed out.

“You don’t have to tell me.” Graham said, “She looks amazing.”

The duo made their way over to Regina, “This place looks amazing, Regina.” Emma said as they reached the brunette.

“Thanks, Emma.” Regina smiled, “but I really couldn’t have done it without you.” She paused, “All of you. I mean...”

“It was fun. And I mean that. I learned so much, most notably that glitter is impossible to get out of your bra.” Emma joked, referring to a session last week when they were making the snowflakes that went in the ceiling and Ruby had decided to throw pretty much an entire container of glass down the front of Emma’s sweater.

“You and Ruby certainly made it a much more interesting process than any planning has ever been before, that’s for sure.” Regina said

“Good, it’s our goal in this place, making things just a _little_ more interesting.” Emma teased, “But really though. You did an amazing job. You should be proud of yourself.”

“Emma is right, Regina. You really outdid yourself. I thought the Valentine’s Day dance last year was spectacular. But this, this is something else entirely.” Graham praised.

“Thank you. I really wanted this to be special. It’s our last year and I don’t know. I want to make a mark, or something.” Regina said, and Emma caught that look in Regina’s eyes again. The look that she could never quite place or understand, the part of Regina that was still so much a mystery that Emma wanted to badly to solve.

“Oh come on. This place will remember you for decades, Regina.” Emma replied, slightly teasing but mostly meaningful. “At least as much as a high school can remember anyone or anything.”

“You should dance. Enjoy this night.” Regina said, and Emma could tell she meant it. “You deserve it. You both do.”

“What about you?” Graham asked, “Don’t you want to dance?” He gestured to the dance floor, and smiled.

“Maybe later. I need to make sure the ballots for the winter royalty are out, and that someone is watching it.”

“Fine. But you owe me a dance, Regina. And don’t think I will forget it.” Graham said.

“Of course.” Regina said, and smiled. “Now you two kids have fun.”

“I am two months older than you!” Graham shouted towards Regina’s back as she walked away.

“Come on, big boy. I do want to dance.” Emma said, laughed, and dragged Graham out on the dance floor. Regina was right, this was their night and she was going to enjoy it no matter what.

* * *

 

The first part of the dance went by without much trouble, Emma and Graham danced a couple of slow songs, and was joined in by Peter, Ruby and Regina for some of the more upbeat ones. Emma was having a blast, the band that had won the Battle of the Bands, “Broken Promises and Hard Hearts” were really good. They were singing a mixture of covers and their own original songs. The songs were also a decent mix of slow love songs, and fast songs you could dance to with your friends.

The band was taking a short break, as the winners of the Snow Queen and King was coming up. A mix of songs Emma knew was picked and made by Regina was playing while the band was of the stage. Emma was impressed by the quality of the sound system Regina had installed in the gym. She had clearly made sure that the pre-recorded music would not bring down the mood during the band’s breaks.

Emma was taking a break from all the dancing, and was sitting at a table talking to Ruby, Graham, Katheryn and David. Regina was off counting the votes with Peter, who had volunteered to help her seeing as Graham was nominated. She was laughing at something Katheryn said as she heard her sister’s voice pretty much booming across the gym.

“How could you do this to me?!” she was screaming, and Emma looked over to see her sister standing opposite a very much disheveled James and a brunette girl Emma had seen around school.

Everything, including the music stopped, and everyone’s attention was suddenly on the three people who were in the middle of a huge screaming match.

“Wake up princess. Your little Prince Charming has been cheating on you for months. “The other girl, Jack; Emma suddenly remembered, replied.

“Is this true?” Mary Margaret asked, and Emma’s heart broke for her sister. A part of her knew this would happen, but to have it happen like this, so very public and so sudden was really just throwing salt in the wound. Emma had hoped she would be wrong about James. She had hoped it so very much.

“What’s going on?” Emma heard behind her, in all the commotion she hadn’t realized Regina and Peter had come back.

“It turns out Jackass McAsshole has been cheating on my sister.” Emma answered, and the anger was clear in her voice. She really wanted to beat the shit out of that boy.

“Yes.” Was the only word James said in defense of himself, and to some extent Emma was glad. The last thing her sister needed was for him to defend himself.

“Well then.” Mary Margaret said, and slapped him. For the looks of it very hard. “This, whatever this was to you, is _over_!” She said before leaving the gym.

Emma was just about to go after her, when Regina’s hand on her arm stopped her. “Graham has it covered.” She said, and gestured to her best friend.

Graham had walked over to where Jack and James were now standing, “I think you should leave.”

“I have just as much right to be here as anyone. Besides I was the one who was assaulted.”

“I said, I think you should leave.” Graham repeated again, and he was pretty much standing above James now. He looked terrifying and James back away.

“Whatever. This is lame anyway.” James said, and he and Jack exited the gym. As soon as James and Jack were gone, Graham went after Mary Margaret.

“Well, that was interesting.” Ruby said, “I can’t believe he would do that to her though. I mean, he cheated on me but I really thought he learned from his lessons.”

“Guys like him don’t learn.” Emma said, her tone still seething with anger. “I warned her this would happen. I tried to be cool and everything, but he is an asshole.”

“Better you vent now, Em, because the last thing MM needs is for you to say ‘I told you so’” Ruby added, “just let her feel whatever she needs to feel.”

“I know.” Emma replied, “I am just mad. I am losing faith in love right now. If I ever had it in the first place.”

“Oh come on, Em.” Ruby said, “Just because James was the jackass we all knew he was and Fiona went back to Katie – like we knew she would, doesn’t mean all love is doomed. Look at me and Peter, we are happier than ever.”

Ruby snuggled up to Peter and smiled, and Emma had to admit that they looked happy. They had what she wanted, what she thought she had with Fiona, and if she was being completely honest with herself, what she _still_ wanted to have with Regina. Emma desperately wanted to be happy and in love.

Emma looked over at Regina, and her heart melted again. She knew she had to let Regina go, she wanted to so badly. But how do you stop feeling something? It’s impossible. It’s there; it’s always there in the back of her mind. This idea of her and Regina, this thing that was only a dream, this thing that became something else when they became friends. A part of her had believed that being friends with Regina would somehow fracture this image that she had of Regina, this idea that she liked so much, but instead it did the opposite. While the idea of Regina was something she admired, and liked. Regina herself was so much more. Being a part of Regina’s life, being her friend was more than her dreams. It was beyond anything she could ever imagine. So maybe she would always be in love with Regina, and maybe that was completely okay.

The sound of the gym doors opening again made Emma turn back around, the music was on, but not loud enough for people to dance. Regina was supposed to be on stage presenting the King and Queen, but due to the commotion Regina had decided to wait a little bit for things to cool down. The night was still fairly young.

Mary Margaret and Graham walked in the gym again, Mary Margaret’s head was raised high and she had a smile on her face. Emma was glad to see that Graham had managed to cheer up her sister. Graham really had a talent for finding the bright spot in every dark situation, and Emma was glad her sister had someone like Graham in her life.

“So, are we ever going to find out who our King and Queen is?” Ruby asked Regina.

“I guess it’s about time.” Regina said, and found her way towards the stage along with Peter, who had agreed to present with Regina as well. Storybrooke High had a long tradition of having Winter Kings and Queens, in many ways that was a more prestigious honor than both prom and homecoming royalty. Storybrooke High was one of those few High Schools in this country which cared very little about football. The stars of the school were the track teams, the basketball teams and to smaller extent the women’s soccer club. Homecoming was never much of big deal at Storybrooke High, it never had been. Prom royalty was still a big deal, but the idea of being prom king or prom queen was very cliché and being winter king and queen was something more unique. That said, winning winter queen and king was usually a good indication of who was going to end up being prom royalty.

“It’s time to crown our winter king and queen.” Regina started, and took out the envelope with the results. The envelope was mostly for traditions sake since Regina and Peter had counted the votes and knew what the results was.  

“Our Winter Queen is Mary Margaret Blanchard,” Regina said with a smile, as the spotlight found Mary Margaret, and it suddenly became clear why Regina had waiting for Mary Margret to return before announcing the king and queen. Emma wasn’t exactly surprised that her sister won. People loved her sister, and she deserved this. She deserved something good to come out of this whole mess.

Mary Margaret entered the stage, as Peter put the tiara on her head. Emma could tell that her sister was touched, and she was also happy. Or as happy she could be given the circumstances.

“And our winter king is Graham Humbert!” Regina announced, and the spot light found Graham on the floor. His face being one of extreme shock. Graham was popular in his own right, but he wasn’t near as popular as many other boys. Emma smiled as Graham found his way up to the stage and received his crown and a hug from Regina. As she looked at her sister and Graham up on that stage she couldn’t help but wonder if maybe Regina had something to do with this.

“So it’s time for our royal couple to have their coronation dance. So if you would take the dance floor.” Regina said, as the band started playing the first chords of Lauren Aquilina’s song _Fools._ Emma looked over at the dance floor as Graham took Mary Margaret into his arms, and Emma realized that everything will be okay. Maybe not at this very moment, her sister would need some time to heal. But she had people who loved her, and when she was ready, she was going to have Graham.

Emma was watching her sister and Graham, and didn’t notice when Regina returned to their table. “They make quite the couple don’t they?”

“This was your doing wasn’t it?” Emma asked.

“Your sister was the winner by a long shot,” Regina said, before adding, “But maybe someone else was supposed to be King. Someone who is thankfully no longer here, and therefore I figured why not give it to someone who really deserved it.”

“You’re such a romantic at heart, aren’t you?” Emma said teasingly.

“Oh, Emma Swan-Blanchard, you have no idea.” Regina said with a smirk. Emma couldn’t help but smile and when everyone’s eyes were on Graham and Mary Margaret, Emma’s eyes remained on Regina as the song came to an end.

_What if we ruin it all and we love like fools?_

_And all we have we lose?_

_I don't want you to go but I want you so_

_So tell me what_

_Tell me what_

_Tell me what we choose_

 


	19. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is in Regina’s POV. Originally I planned on saving Regina’s POV to the sequel because I wanted the readers to be as in the dark about Regina’s feelings and motivations as Emma was, but I needed Regina’s POV to make this chapter work the way I wanted, so look at this as a sort of teaser for the sequel.

 

Regina was nervous, and that was a feeling that she wasn’t used to.  Regina had been in charge of planning dances since she first got elected to student council when she was a sophomore. She was known for being organized and smart. Yet this time it felt different, and Regina couldn’t place her finger on what it was.

As Regina looked around the gym, she couldn’t help but notice how amazing it looked. The fake snow, the paper snowflakes, the blue lights, it looked exactly how she imagined it would look. The Snow Ball was a big deal, and she knew it was a big deal. She knew people in this town talked about their Snow Balls as if it was prom. And she knew tonight be special. It just had to be.

People were starting to arrive, and from their reactions Regina could tell that she was right about the place. As the couples started walking in, Regina couldn’t help that familiar sting in her heart that showed up whenever she saw couples. It had gotten worse in the last couple of months, and if she was honest she knew why. But she wasn’t there yet.

“Regina, this place looks amazing.” Regina heard behind her and turned around to see David and Katheryn. They both looked amazing. David was wearing a suit with a light blue tie that matched Katheryn’s dress. They looked like they had stepped out of a movie.

“I could say the same about you two. You look amazing.” Regina said.

“So, no Graham tonight?” David asked. It had become almost tradition that Graham and Regina would attend these things together, even after they broke up. Regina was aware that Graham still had feelings for her, though for the way he had been talking about Mary Margaret, Regina was certain he was falling for someone else. And she was happy for him. Graham deserved the best, and Regina knew she couldn’t give him what he needed.

“No.” Regina paused, “He’s taking Emma.”

“Emma?” Katheryn asked

“Swan-Blanchard. Mary Margaret’s sister.” Regina clarified, and watched as recognition crossed their faces.

“The gay one?” David asked.

“David!” Katheryn chided him.

“They are friends, and Emma had been working on the committee with us and when her date fell through…” Regina felt a little angry that Fiona had ditched Emma right before the dance, only to get back together with Katie. Especially after Fiona had promised her that she would take care of Emma.  “So Graham asked her to go with him. He didn’t want her to miss out on all of her hard work.”

“I see.” Katheryn said, but Regina could tell that there was something else she wanted to say. But they weren’t that sort of friends. They were friends because Graham was friends with David, and David and Kathryn had been a package deal since kindergarten.

“Excuse me, but I have to make sure that the band has everything the need.” Regina said, and walked away from the other couple. She had no problems with either Katheryn or David, but she wasn’t in the mood to deal with whatever it was Katheryn had a problem with at the moment. And it wasn’t a complete lie; she needed to make sure that the band was set. But she already had done it twice and they should have everything that is needed.

Broken Promises and Hard Hearts was an indie pop band that had won the Battle of Bands, and their set list was perfect for this dance. A mix of originals and covers that covered several tempos, not to romantic and sappy but still romantic enough for plenty of slow dances. Regina was surprised that she hadn’t heard of them before the Battle of Bands. Killian did make it his own personal mission to make sure that Regina knew pretty much all of the local bands in Storybrooke. They may not be the kind of friends they used to be, but Regina had to admit that all of the Golden Five still had a connection, and that included Fiona, no matter how much she tried to deny it.

Regina was busy with the band when she heard Emma and Graham behind her. She turned around and faced Emma and Graham.  “This place looks amazing, Regina.” Emma said. And Regina was almost taken aback with the blonde. She was wearing a gorgeous halter neck dress that fit her just perfectly and Regina had to focus as to not say something she knew she would regret.

“Thanks, Emma.” Regina smiled, “but I really couldn’t have done it without you.” She paused, “All of you. I mean...”

And it was the truth; she had never had as much fun planning a dance as she had planning this dance. Having Ruby and Emma there had somehow made it fun, and exciting. Emma was great, and Ruby was possibly one of the most hilarious people that Regina had ever had the fortune of meeting.

Regina couldn’t help but reflect on how her life had changed in the last four months since that birthday party. She hadn’t even really planned on going, but Graham had convinced her that it would be good for her to get out and she couldn’t disagree with that. Regina’s life pretty much consisted of school, Rocinante and Graham. So, she had agreed to go.

That night had changed so much, and most of it scared the hell out of her. But she was so happy that Graham had convinced her to go. For the first time since ‘the incident’ with Fiona, she had a group of friends that she enjoyed and trusted. It had just been Graham and her for so long she had forgotten how it was to be with other people. And Ruby and Emma was the perfect kind of people, their relationship was very familiar to her own with Graham. They mixed well into the group, and sometimes Regina had a problem remembering a time when they weren’t a part of the group. Regina had also enjoyed getting to know Mary Margaret better. They had been school friends for a while, sharing most of their AP classes together, but she had enjoyed being friends outside of the classroom. And if things worked out for Graham, she could only hope that she would end up seeing a lot more of the brunette.

* * *

 

As the night progressed Regina was getting more and more pleased with how everything had turned out. People seemed to be having a great time; the band was better than she remembered, and maybe most importantly she was actually having a good time. It had been a long time since she could relax like this. She had danced a song with Graham, and for the first time since they had broken up it didn’t feel awkward. They had finally reached a point where they were just friends, and Regina was happy about that. She loved Graham; she just hadn’t been in love with him. She had wanted to, desperately. He was perfect in every single way; she just never managed to fall in love with him.

After a couple of group dances with Emma, Graham, Peter and Ruby, it was time to go count the votes for the royalty.

“Hey, you need any help with that?” Peter asked, “I know Graham is nominated, and therefore not allowed to help count the votes.”

“As if I would ever cheat,” Graham said, fake hurt, “I am hurt by the lack of trust this administration have in my leadership skills.

“You are such a drama queen.” Emma interjected.

“Am not.”

“Sorry, Graham, but Emma is right.” Regina said, and almost laughed at the absolute look of shock on Graham’s face when she took Emma’s side.

“You are supposed to be my best friend, and then you hurt me in this way?”

“You just proved her point, buddy.” Peter said, and grinned before high fiving Emma. “But seriously Regina, do you want some help? I’ve been on dance committees before.”

“You’re an angel, Peter. Thank you.” Regina said.

Peter kissed Ruby gently, and then Regina and Peter went over and collected the ballot boxes. “We’ll go into the girl’s locker room to count it. The doors have been locked, so hopefully it’s empty.”

“Hopefully?” Peter asked

“Let’s just say that at last year’s Junior Prom, Graham and I got a surprise I wish we hadn’t.” Regina said remembering walking in two teachers who were supposed to be chaperoning doing a little bit more than talking.

“I have a feeling I don’t want to know.”

“Just know that I cannot look at Mr. Bergstein the same way ever again.”

“Gross.”

Peter and Regina walked to the girl’s locker room, and thankfully found the room both locked and empty when they got there.  It took them almost twenty minutes to count and double check all the votes.

“Damn. I really didn’t want James to win.” Peter said, “I mean the guy is an asshole. I really don’t understand what Mary Margaret sees in him, or how he and David can be so different. I mean David has his faults, but compared to his brother the guy is a bloody saint.”

“Well, at least Mary Margaret won.” Regina said relieved.

Both Fiona and Katie had been nominated, which had surprised Regina. Fiona had pretty much been guaranteed a nomination but Katie had been a wildcard. She figured that the period in which the girls had been broken up had been beneficial for Katie and people had finally started seeing her as her own person, not just as Fiona Moreno’s girlfriend. Regina was surprisingly fond of Katie. She liked her, and she thought that maybe she was good with Fiona. But then again, thinking about Katie and Fiona led to bad memories she would rather forget. There so much of her past she wishes she could forget, and do over.

“At least this school has taste in queens.” Peter said jokingly, “Though I have to admit I was surprised you weren’t nominated. You are certainly much more queen material than Cruella.”

“Don’t be mean to Ella, her parents named her _Cruella_. She has it bad enough.” Regina said, before pausing, “And I was nominated. I took my name of the list.”

“Really? Why?” Peter asked, “I thought every girl’s dream was to be named Snow Queen.”

“I don’t like the spotlight,” Regina said honestly, “I like this behind the scenes stuff. I like the paperwork and the feeling that I do something worthwhile. This whole thing about Queens and Kings are way too much trouble for me.”

“You’re a strange girl, Regina Mills.”

“Emma has said that about me.” Regina said, and smiled at the thought of the blonde. “But then again, I guess she would know.”

“Your friendship is rather complicated isn’t it?” Peter said, before pausing. “I’m sorry. It’s really none of my business. It’s just she is Ruby’s best friend, and Ruby talks.”

“She is different,” Regina said, “It’s refreshing in this town.”

* * *

 

As the drama unfolded in front of her, Regina got a brilliant idea. She would make Graham king. James had beat Graham with a measly 10 votes, and Peter was the only who knew the real outcome and she was pretty sure that he wouldn’t blab on her. To be honest, James didn’t deserve that crown. It was supposed to a sign of respect to be Snow King, and James Spencer did not deserve that honor. And the truth is Regina Mills was not above a little bit of match making and manipulation. She knew this was Graham’s chance of shine and he deserved that. Graham deserved everything, and she still felt guilty about not being able to give him that. So maybe this is it. Her chance to make some of it right, give him the moment to the knight in shining armor.

She looked over at Emma and was surprised on how calm the blonde was, she had expected her to run after James and give him a piece of her mind. But Ruby had calmed her down, and she had agreed to let Graham and Mary Margaret handle it. She had always been impressed by Ruby and Emma’s friendship, how they fit. It had reminded her of how she and Fiona had been in the beginning before everything happened. Before she ruined everything, before Cora _made_ her ruin everything.

Regina pushed that thought away. She didn’t want to deal with it. She had been suppressing it for years, and then Emma Swan-Blanchard had come into her life and suddenly everything had started rising back. All those thoughts and ideas, and Regina had been more confused than she had for a very long time. Emma was different than all the other girls she knew, and it was refreshing and scary. Emma saw a part of her that she worked very hard to keep hidden. She had from the very beginning. Since that night in Emma’s bedroom that had started all of this. Emma had looked at her, and Regina had felt safe for the first time in a very long time. And that is what confused her. Emma Swan-Blanchard confused her.

“So, are we ever going to find out who our King and Queen is?” Ruby asked and pulled Regina out of her thoughts.

“I guess it’s about time.” Regina said, gestured that Peter should join her, and walked up on stage. She took the microphone, and made a big deal about opening the envelopes she and Peter had prepared despite knowing that she had no intentions of declaring that James was voted Snow Queen. But there was nothing Regina knew better than how to fake it.

“Our Winter Queen is Mary Margaret Blanchard,” Regina said with a smile. She was genuinely happy that Mary Margaret had won Snow Queen, especially after the night the girl was having. She deserved a good memory from tonight, and not just the memory of finding out that James had been cheated on her with Jack.

And as Peter put the tiara on Mary Margaret’s head, Regina dramatically opened the other envelope. “And our winter king is Graham Humbert!” Regina announced and smiled when she saw the absolute shock on her best friend’s face, and she knew that she had made the right choice. James was gone, it didn’t matter that he was the one who got the most votes. This was Graham’s moment and she couldn’t be happier.

“So it’s time for our royal couple to have their coronation dance. So if you would take the dance floor.” Regina said, before putting the microphone back into the microphone stand. She took one final look at the dancing couple before walking back to the table where Peter, Ruby and Emma were still sitting. “They make quite the couple don’t they?”

“This was your doing wasn’t it?” Emma asked.

“Your sister was the winner by a long shot,” Regina said, before adding, “But maybe someone else was supposed to be King. Someone who is thankfully no longer here, and therefore I figured why not give it to someone who really deserved it.”

“You’re such a romantic at heart, aren’t you?” Emma said teasingly.

“Oh, Emma Swan-Blanchard, you have no idea.” Regina said with a smirk. Regina couldn’t help but notice that everyone’s else’s eyes were on Graham and Mary Margaret, Emma’s eyes remained on Regina as the song came to an end. She was having all of these emotions. Peter and Ruby had left to dance, and the table was suddenly only the two of them left at the table. Emma was looking at her life she was the only thing in this world that mattered, and that scared the hell out of Regina. She had hoped that as Emma had gotten to know her, and see that she wasn’t this perfect little thing that everyone expected her, Emma’s crush on her would subside, and when she started dating Fiona she was sure that she had moved on from her. But now they were here, and Emma was looking at her like that, and she wasn’t sure she could handle it.

“Do you think they’ll be coming back?” Regina asked in an attempt to change the atmosphere.

“No.” Emma gestured to Mary Margaret and Graham who had moved to the corner of the gym and was talking quietly. “In a few minutes, I am going to get a text that says something about Graham talking her home and we will talk when I get home.”

“How are going to get home if your date runs off with your sister?” Regina asked, wondering if she should offer to drive her back, knowing it could lead to something dangerous with the mood she was in. If she was smart, she would walk away from the table right now and avoid Emma for the rest of the night. But there was something stopped her from doing that.

“I’ll figure it out,” Emma said, “I’ll beg Ruby to drive me home. I am still annoyed that she has her license and I don’t.”

“Why don’t you? You are sixteen, right?” Regina asked

“Yeah, I turned 16 in June.” Emma said, “I just failed Driver’s Ed, and Dad refuses to let me retake the test or help me until I’m seventeen. So until then I pretty much rely on MM and Ruby to drive me around. Not like you need a car in Storybrooke. You can pretty much walk everywhere as long as you have good shoes and some time.”

“We didn’t exactly live in a metropolis, that’s for sure.” Regina joked, “Though we do have two Starbucks and a Taco Bell.”

“That we do.” Emma said, before reaching for her phone. “Told you.”

Emma showed her a text message from Mary Margaret that said _Graham is taking me home. We’ll talk at home. Sorry for stealing your date. Love you._ “So I guess I got ditched.”

“You okay?” Regina asked worriedly. She knew that Emma had taken the break up hard, and it was why she had given Emma slack the last few days in regards to the preparations. She had been so mad when she found out that Fiona had broken up with Emma, that she had almost driven to Fiona’s house to give her a piece of her mind.  The only reason she hadn’t done so is because Emma Swan-Blanchard is not the kind of girl that appreciates someone else fighting her battles, and after all, despite all of her history with Fiona, it really was none of her business what was going on between Fiona and Emma.  

“Actually yes. I thought it was going to hurt more, or at the very least longer. But the truth is, I am fine. I think I was more upset that she dumped me before this dance. I liked Fiona, I really did. She was fun, and she was a _great_ kisser, but we didn’t really have that much in common other than both being gay. Maybe I could have fallen in love with her had we had more time, but now I am fine.”

Emma glanced over to where Fiona and Katie were dancing, “They should be together. They fight and they break up and then they get back together. They are like our very own Chuck and Blair, only with more lesbians and less parental issues.”

“I have no idea what that even means.” Regina had to admit.

“You’re lucky.” Emma said, “No but seriously. It’s a TV show. It doesn’t matter. The point it, it’s inevitable. They will always find their way back to each other.”

“Maybe so. It sucks that you got hurt in the process though.”

“Fiona was a great first girlfriend though,” Emma recalled, “She didn’t push, she was nice. Most people don’t have epic loves with their firsts. That only happens on TV. In real life, people spend most of their lives looking for the one.”

“You’re right.” Regina said, “And some people never find them.” She said as she thought about her parents. Her dad hadn’t been home in nearly 9 months. Regina hadn’t seen her dad since her birthday. She knew her parents weren’t in love. She wasn’t sure her parents had ever been in love. She couldn’t remember seeing them be like other people parents were, and as she grew up it became clearer and clearer to Regina that her mother had chosen to marry her father for his fortune and his company.

“That’s a depressing thought.” Emma added, “I mean we’re just kids. We have our whole lives ahead of us. You’re a little young to give up, aren’t you?”

Regina could tell that Emma meant that as a joke, but it hit her hard. She was eighteen years old and a part of her had already given up on the idea of falling in love, of giving herself fully to someone, and to be _happy_. Regina Mills knew she was destined for success, with Cora Mills as a mother there was little other choice than that, but when Regina looked into her future. She saw herself with a law degree, a faceless husband, and three kids. She never once pictured herself happy. When Regina pictured her future, the only thing she saw was what was expected of her. What she knew her mother _needed_ her to be. Thankfully she was saved by Ruby before she had to voice any of this to Emma.

“Come on, Em. Let’s dance. Tonight is almost over and you can’t sit her all night just because your sister ran off with your date.”

“You are going to tease me about that for years, aren’t you?”

“Probably.” Ruby said, and grinned. “You too, Regina.”

“No, I’m out. My feet are killing me.” Regina lied, and pointed to her four inch heels. Truth be told, Regina could walk in six inch heels without issues for hours, but right now they gave her a plausible excuse. She just wanted to be alone with her thoughts for a moment, away from Emma. Emma had a tendency to cloud her judgement and her emotions and she couldn’t afford that. She only had a couple of months left in this town, and she couldn’t let anything sacrifice the future she was building. No matter how bleak that appeared to her at the moment.

“You sure?” Emma asked, and Regina could tell that Emma was worried about her. Emma always seemed to be worried about her, and if it had been anyone other than Emma, it would have bothered Regina, but Emma was different because Emma knew how it felt to have no one to care for you. Regina didn’t know much about Emma’s past, but she knew enough to realize that she and Emma had more in common than either of them would have assumed at first glance.

“Yes, I am sure. This is your first Snow Dance. You should enjoy it to the fullest; you deserve this night, Emma. You truly do.”

“Thank you” Emma said in barely a whisper, before letting Ruby drag her out on the dance floor. Regina took her phone, and checked the band’s set list and noted that they only had three more songs to play before the dance was over. She removed her heels and automatically opened her mail app to make sure she hadn’t missed anything important. She was to busy scrolling to her phone to realize that Fiona had sneaked up on her.

“You should be out there with them, you know?”

“Moreno?” Regina said surprised, they hadn’t said a single word to each other since the Halloween Dance when they almost came to blows over Emma. Fiona had a way with Regina that just pushed all of her buttons, and Fiona knew it. For most of her life Fiona Moreno was the person in Regina’s life that knew her best, and that still scared her. The parts of her that Fiona saw, that Regina knew Fiona still saw, were the parts of her that Regina fought so hard to keep hidden from the word. The broken parts, the imperfect parts, the parts her mother detested.

“Can you just please call me Fiona again?” Fiona sounded almost defeated, “I mean come, Regina. It’s been years. I’ve forgiven you. Can’t you just forgive yourself, already?”

“What are you talking about?” Regina asked. She was pretty certain she knew what incident Fiona was talking about.

“Come on, Regina. You have hated yourself for it since it happened. I let it go, because I figured it was none of my business since you clearly weren’t interested in my help or my friendship anymore. But you need to let it go. You deserve it.”

“Deserve what?” Regina asked, she had been pretty sure what they had been talking about a second ago but now she was completely lost again.

“To be happy, Regina.” Fiona said, and finally sat down next to Regina. “You look miserable Regina. You have ever since..”

“Don’t say it.” Regina interrupted, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“I know. You never have. That’s part of the problem. You need let go.” Fiona said, and Regina felt that feeling coming up again. That old familiar feeling that told her that she could trust Fiona, that Fiona was her best friend. Fiona had seen her at her worst, and still cared. But it was different now, everything was different. And Regina knew they could never go back, she wasn’t even sure she wanted to. She had changed that night, for better or for worse, but she knew she could never take back what she did or what she said.

“I’m not sure how to.” Regina finally admitted. She was terrified of everything; she was terrified of where this conversation would lead. She was terrified about the emotions it was bring back, of the part of her that had threated to come back the last few months.  She had fought so hard to keep that part of herself hidden from view, to the degree that she had almost forgotten that it was there.  She could barely remember that bright eyed girl that believed that the world was wonderful. She was so different from herself, that Regina had started to think she hadn’t ever been real.

“You start by asking her to dance.” Fiona says, as it was the most obvious answer in the world. “The last song is coming up.”

“Who are you talking about?”

“Emma.” Fiona states, and Regina’s heartbeat quickens. “We both know you wanted. You’ve wanted to for months.”

“I can’t.” Regina said honestly. She couldn’t.

“I know that you’re scared, Regina. But if you don’t ask her to dance now, you will regret it for the rest of your life because Emma Swan-Blanchard is an amazing girl and soon some other girl is going to realize it and she will sweep Emma off her feet and then you’re window has closed.”

“I’m not… I mean I can’t...” Regina said, the words failing her. She knew that Fiona was right. She has known it all night. To be honest, she’s known it for months. She knew it when she felt like someone ripped her heart out when she saw Fiona and Emma kissing at the party, she knew it when she saw Emma dressed as Buffy at the Halloween Party. She knew it when she had stayed up all night talking to Emma after Fiona broke up with her. But she had denied it with every single cell of her being because she could accept what it meant.

“Look, no one is asking you to put on a label and walk in a parade, Regina. But you should stop denying yourself the happiness you deserve.” Fiona said, and there was no anger or distain in her voice. Only concern.

“How did you know?” Regina asked, despite being pretty sure of the answer.

“I’ve always known, Gina.”  The nickname took Emma by surprise. When they were kids, Fiona’s little brother couldn’t say Regina’s name and instead called her Gina. Fiona had taken to calling her Gina to annoy Regina. But Regina could tell that this time, the nickname was used as a reminder to Regina of the girl she used to be. The girl she could be again.

“I hate it when you call me that.”

“I know.” Fiona said, and stood up getting ready to walk away presumably to have one last dance with her girlfriend.

“Thank you.” Regina said as Fiona walked away.

“Go get the girl, Mills.” Fiona said, and winked. Regina was still scared, terrified even as she looked over at Ruby and Emma. She saw Emma smile, and her heart melted. She so desperately wanted to be able to make Emma happy. She wasn’t sure if she could do it. She wasn’t sure if she could do any of it. But she knew she had to try.

She put her heels back on and walked over to Emma has the band started to play the opening of the final song. She could see Peter pulling Ruby into his arms, and Emma standing there with a long look on her face.

“Dance with me?” Regina asked, the words coming out barely louder than a whisper. It took all the courage she had to do to this.

“What?”

“I said, dance with me.” Regina repeated, a little louder this time.

“Are you sure?” Emma asked, and Regina could tell that Emma was skeptical.

“Please…” Regina said, and Emma took her hand as Regina led her out on the dance floor.

_I finally asked you to dance_

_On the last slow song_

_Beneath that moon that was really a disco ball_

_I can still feel my head on your shoulder_

_And hoping that song would never be over_

 

As Emma and Regina was swaying to the music, Emma looked her in the eyes. “What is going on, Regina? This feels like more than just a couple of friends dancing to a slow love song.”

Regina braced herself; she needed to tell Emma this. She needed Emma to know. “Look, you remember that Monday after Graham’s party and how I told you that I couldn’t be what you wanted?”

“Like it was yesterday” Emma answered honestly, “What about it?”

“I think I might have been wrong.” Regina admitted, “I never wanted this too, I mean I wasn’t sure that I…”

“What are you talking about?” Emma asked confused, and Regina realized she wasn’t making much sense. She wasn’t sure how to convey what she was feeling to Emma. All of the emotions she had spent the last two years fighting were coming crashing down on her. The last couple of months the wall she had built up at started to crumble in Emma’s presence and small pieces of light had started to invade the darkness, and now she dancing with Emma, and she just couldn’t fight it anymore. She was so sick of pretending.

“I’m tired of fighting.” Regina said, the words finding their way, “I can’t pretend anymore.”

“Pretend what?”

“That I don’t feel like this.” Regina said, and tried to force a smile. “That this isn’t everything I want.”

“Regina…” Emma looked into Regina’s eyes as Regina closed the space between them and kissed her. Properly this time. She wasn’t fighting it, she was embracing it. This was who she was, and she was sick of pretending otherwise.

“Please tell me you still want this.” Regina said as soon as they broke apart, “I can’t promise it will be easy. This is hard for me. But I want to try. I so desperately want to try.”

“I’ve never wanted anything more.” Emma said honestly, “And if you need to take it slow, we’ll take it slow.”

Regina felt a single tear fall down her cheek, and Emma wiped it away before kissing her again. Regina knew this was going to be a hard road. She still had so many things to deal with. But as the final chords of the song played, and Regina looked into Emma’s eye, she could truly believe for the first time in a very long time, Regina Mills felt like she was finally where she belonged.

_For me you'll always be eighteen_

_And beautiful_

_And dancin' away with my heart_

 

**END OF PART ONE**

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the end of part 1. I always planned on ending this first part after their first proper kiss, so please don’t be too mad at me. The sequel will be posted on SEPTEMBER 1th, and IT WILL BE UPDATED EVERY TWO WEEKS (AKA TWICE A MONTH), so no more six month wait between chapters. Part 2 will bring: our girls actually dating, emma&leo scenes, CORA, more regina backstory, college acceptances, prom, graduation and an eventual M rating.
> 
> Also the song used in this chapter was “Dancing Away with my Heart” by Lady Antebellum


	20. The Sequel

The sequel "it's not about your scars (it's all about your heart) is now up.


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